Health Through Food Certification - SPE

Is it good marketing or healthy eating?  Probably both.Your  local government requires permits for food safety, now you can be assured  food is also nutritious. Private enterprise has stepped up to the proverbial plate.

Jeremy Bearman, owner of the Michelin star Rouge Tomate in Manhattan, is using his culinary expertise to encourage "sanitas per escam" health through food. Healthy and haute cuisine is the goal and SPE certification is the method.  For a fee, his group will review recipes and rework them to meet SPE certification standards. The program's charter gives illuminating details like cooked tomatoes are healthier than raw, foods rich in potassium and protein counteract the adverse affects of salt, and  less oil is better.  The nutritionally astute may find these tweaks obvious, but not all chefs are practicing nutritionists. Butter and cream are still staples in the restaurant industry.

The SPE is founded on three principles you can implement in your own kitchen:  sourcing fresh local ingredients, preparing them with cooking techniques that preserve their nutrition, and optimizing nutrition through food combinations.

Certainly we can only wish this program success. What you eat matters. Not all calories are created equal and professional help to find restaurants that maximize the nutritional benefits in food is good business for everyone.