Health-e Habits
Inspiring others to lead healthier lives
Special Diets & Gluten-Free School Menus: How You Can Help
Allergies and special diets have increased both the awareness of and need for allergen-specific and gluten-free school menus. Some of these allergies and intolerances can be very severe, with a wide range of symptoms: vomiting, stomach cramps, brain fog, mood swings,...
Highly Refined Soybean Oil Not Allergenic
This article can be found here as part of the Soy Connection Newsletter. Posted with permission. The U.S. Food Allergen Labeling & Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) mandates labeling of all ingredients derived from commonly allergenic foods. In the United States,...
How Would You Improve This Recipe?
Check Here to See How You Did: Descriptive Recipe Title: The first word should always be the common name because that is the best way to search for the recipe. Following the common name, you should include descriptive terms of the product; such as, canned, frozen,...
New USDA Standards
USDA Announcement Provides Changes to Age Groups, Target 2 Sodium Standards and CACFP Standards for Meals. The USDA announced changes for the 2017-18 School Year to include the implementation of the Target 2 Sodium Standards for NSLP/SBP and changes to the CACFP...
USDA Updates CACFP Meal Patterns
On April 25, 2016, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service set forth new guidelines for the CACFP meal patterns for schools, going into effect October 1, 2017. Recently, the USDA issued a memo offering a transition period of one year for schools to adapt to the new...
School Foodservice: Improving Efficiency, One Cake at a Time
After 22 years working in school foodservice and nutrition, I decided to start a consulting company in 2002. I had been conducting customer service training in school districts nationwide, designing dining rooms in my district and generally having a blast for 22 years...
The Right Tools Can Help You Save Time and Money
You can only work so many hours in a day. As a business person responsible for ensuring efficient use of resources every day, how you manage your limited bucket of time is critical. Your time well spent can impact the productivity of everyone else in your...
School Lunch Menus, Money and the Environment
A recent article highlighted the importance of efficient and effective school menu planning. This school district in California reinvented its school lunch program and not only increased the nutrition of its meals for students, but saved money and reduced its carbon...
Celebrating 5 Years with Meg Chesley, CEO
Most people imagine school lunches the same: long, rectangular tables, white walls covered in posters and a long line of kids uninterested in the food being served. However, Meg Chesley, CEO of Health-e Pro, had a different vision for school lunches. Meg wanted to...
Standardized Recipes: Get Those Recipes Under Control!
Why Standardize Your Recipes? A true standardized recipe is a recipe that has been tried, tested, evaluated and adapted for use by a food service professional. It produces a consistent quality and yield every time when the exact procedures, equipment, and ingredients...