Toronto Public Health’s Savvy Diner program used MenuSano to deliver voluntary menu labelling in independently owned restaurants, helping provide calorie and sodium information and informing Ontario’s Healthy Menu Choices Act.
About Toronto Public Health (Savvy Diner Program)
Toronto Public Health (TPH) has been a strong voice in advancing menu labelling to help consumers make healthier choices when eating out. From 2013 to 2018, TPH ran the Savvy Diner pilot campaign to test the feasibility of voluntary menu labelling with independently owned restaurants in Toronto, supporting operators in analyzing menus and providing calorie and sodium values on menus or menu boards.
The program was delivered by a 12-person project team (including 10 dietitians) and worked with 15 restaurants, combining public health guidance with practical tools to help restaurants share nutrition information at the point of purchase.
The Challenge
To make voluntary menu labelling feasible for independently owned restaurants, Toronto Public Health needed a practical way to analyze full menus and publish calorie and sodium values at the point of purchase.
But traditional nutrition analysis relied on lab testing, costing up to $1,500 per menu item with a 2 – 5 week turnaround. Those costs and timelines would make the Savvy Diner pilot not feasible, and it wouldn’t be sustainable for restaurants beyond the pilot.
Solution Timeline
“They seem a bit overwhelmed at the results as the calories and sodium values of some of their combos are high… They reformulated all their menu items to reduce the sodium. They’re happy with the results now.”
Features Used
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