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West Palm Beach, FL, United States (AHN) – Dieters take note. The color of your plate may affect how much you eat.

New research published in the December issue of the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that its not just size of your plate, but also the color, when it comes to how much you eat.

Experts have known for years that color has an impact when it comes to food consumption. Fast food chains have long been cashing in on this phenomenon. They rely heavily on bold colors such as red, orange and bright yellow in their advertising, packaging and decor. These color cue you to eat more.

The newest study shows another relationship between food and color. Among the findings are that people tend to eat more when there is less contrast between the color of food and the color of the plate it is served on.

For instance, when pasta with a red sauce is served on a red plate a person tends to eat more, as it is difficult to see exactly how much food is on the plate, and how much has already been consumed.

The best plate color choice is blue, experts say (not much blue food around). The second best is white.

View full post on Gastronomy Stories

New York, NY, United States (AHN) – New York City Council member Leroy Comrie Jr. filed a bill on Wednesday that proposed to ban fast food chains from using toy prizes in advertising as an attraction to children.

The restriction would not apply if the food has less than 500 calories and 600 milligrams of sodium, and less than 35 percent of the calories should come from fat. The meal must include a half cup of fruit or vegetables or a serving of whole grain products.

Among the food chains expected to be affected by the bill that aims to curb childhood obesity is McDonald’s, which offers toy prizes for its Happy Meals.

The bill is patterned after a similar measure passed in San Francisco in 2010 despite the intense lobbying against the law by fast food chains. A similar lobby is shaping up in New York City against the Fast Food Toy Ban Bill.

The New York State Restaurant Association said the government could not legislate what parents should feed their children and the bill would be an added burden to their businesses.

McDonald’s pointed out that the average child eats at McDonald’s three times a month, so childhood obesity should not be blamed on the food items and the enticing toys the chain offers since the kid has other sources of meals which could be the culprit behind the child’s weight problem.

McDonald’s currently offers Young Justice action figures and plastic animals for buyers of Happy Meals, which have varying nutritional content ranging from 380 calories and 460 mg of salt for Chicken McNuggets with apple slices, low-fat caramel dipping sauce and apple juice, to 700 calories and 1,060 mg of salt for a cheeseburger, French fries and low-fat chocolate milk package.

Comrie admits he filed the bill based on his experience as a parent whose two children – now aged 17 and 13 – grew up on McDonald’s Happy Meals because of limited time and limited options.

View full post on Lifestyle And Leisure Stories

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Where everybody knows their name…

Whether their dream bar is a comfortable neighborhood joint or a nightclub teeming with entertainment, readers can achieve their goal with this step-by-step guide. They’ll learn how to focus their vision for their bar, how to build a business plan, what they need to know about mixology and food service, how to deal with vendors and employees, and everything they need to know about advertising and marketing…. More >>

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Starting and Running a Bar

Menu printing is an essential part of your restaurant marketing strategy, but it does not end there. No advertising campaign is effective unless it reaches the consumer via a reliable delivery method. This is where menu direct mailing comes in. Follow these quick and easy tips for direct mailing restaurant menus and flyers to ensure your menu direct mail strategy runs smoothly and effectively.

1. Make sure you know exactly which customers are in your delivery zone. Deliver menus directly to all customers in your delivery zone and don’t give any out to people who are not. Before you set out to direct mail any menus make sure you know exactly which houses you are mailing the menu to. This will make sure you get all potential customers as well as not wasting flyers and time delivering to people outside the delivery area. (more…)

It would be impossible to get away from the doom and gloom that may or may not be our current economic situation depending upon which station you watch or which blog you read. It’s different for everyone. What we do know is that we all have two options: (1) quit or (2) press on. The question for many restaurants and bars is how do I stay alive, and in fact, grow my business in a down economy?

Here are 5 things you can do to market your restaurant in this economy:

(1) Evaluate What You’re Spending Now on Restaurant Advertising.

Print advertising has been the mainstay of restaurant and bar advertising since the two began, and is difficult to determine value because it’s largely based upon “hope”. You hope the ad is written well, you hope the consumer picks up the paper, sees your ad and wants that steak sandwich combo platter RIGHT NOW. Evaluating your current print advertising is the first place you want to look to trim or redeploy costs. You might consider reducing the size of your ad from ¼ page to 1/8 of a page, but keep in mind the first rule of print advertising: you have to do it consistently and regularly, and you want to always be in the same place. (more…)