University of Kansas "Better Bites"

Type: Program

Status: Ongoing

Source File: http://union.ku.edu/better.shtml

Description:

"Better Bites" offer students healthier entrées in campus dining services and smarter snacks in the convenience stores.

Entrées include main courses with fewer calories, less fat, additional herbs and spices and better flavor. Dishes are prepared with lean meats, low fat cheese, less sodium, and without butter or cream. Specific "BB" criteria are as follows:

Meat, Poultry, Fish and Seafood:

• Beef Choice: round: bottom, heel, rump, tip or top sirloin or tenderloin (steak or roast) flank steak, ground beef - round or extra lean
• Veal Choices: All cuts
• Pork Choices: tenderloin, sirloin chop, loin-rib or chop
• Lamb Choices: leg-roast, center whole shank, sirloin, loin, rib, shoulder
• Fish Choices: All freshwater and saltwater fish
• Poultry Choices: (No skin) - chicken or turkey breast, Cornish hen, chicken thigh and drumstick, turkey
• Game Choices: pheasant, quail, rabbit, squirrel, venison

Dairy Products:

• Cheese: low-fat cheese (5g fat or less/oz.),
• Eggs: egg substitutes (substitute 2 egg whites per egg yolk when possible),
• Milk and yogurt: skim, 1% or 2% milk, non-fat, low-fat plain yogurt, or "light" yogurt

Fats and Oils:

• Vegetable oils: all with the exception of palm and coconut oils,
• Margarine: margarine with liquid oil listed as first ingredient (tub-style),
• Other fats: mayonnaise: light or fat-free, sour cream: light or fat-free, Coffee creamers: Poly Rich, Dairy Delight, Coffee Rich and others made with allowed oils, salad dressings: low calorie or fat-free

Bread, Cereal, Pasta and Starchy Vegetables

• Breads: all breads (emphasis on whole grains) excluding butter-topped breads, biscuits, croissants, doughnuts and pastries,
• Pasta: all forms except egg noodles,
• Others: potatoes, baked or mashed, all types of beans and peas, corn, squash, sweet potato, yam

Fruits:

• All unsweetened fresh, dried, frozen, canned, or juice

"Better Bites" entrees meet American Heart Association guidelines by limiting fat to 30% of daily total calories - (based upon a 2000 calorie diet and 65 grams of fat). They contain less than 600 calories and less than 24 grams of fat per entrée. They are identified with a logo and sell for comparable prices of other main entrées.

"Better Bites" snack items have fewer calories, less fat, and/or less sugar than traditional snack options. A logo will identify these select items in all campus convenience stores. Develop your body as well as your mind - - "Better Bites" for a better body. "Better Bites" was initiated by H.O.M.E.B.A.S.E. (Healthy Options for Movement, Exercise, Body Acceptance, and Savvy Eating) a campus wide taskforce, and is supported by KU Dining Services.