Criteria

 

The choices made for each of these restaurants were based on references, research, and personal education. The authors of this website are seniors majoring in Exercise Science at the George Washington University. Their curriculum includes an array of biological classes including Nutrition Sciences, Food Systems, Public Health, Physiology, Biology, and Chemistry. In addition to the information they have learned in the classroom, the authors of this site also completed extensive research involving nutritional diets in order to serve you with the most accurate information and healthy food choices.

 

After compiling all of the information, we decided that the best criteria to use for the purpose of this website is the same criteria stated by the American Heart Association.

 

The criteria stated by the AHA are as follows:

 

• Calories: 700 calories or less per the entire meal

• Total Fat: 3 grams or less total fat per 100 grams, and 30 percent or less calories from total fat in the meal, and 26 grams or less total fat per the entire meal

• Saturated Fat: 1 gram or less saturated fat per 100 grams, and less than 10 percent calories from saturated fat in the meal, and 5 grams or less saturated fat per the entire meal

• Trans Fat - Less than 0.5 grams trans fat per the entire meal

• Cholesterol: 20 milligrams or less cholesterol per 100 grams, and 105 milligrams or less cholesterol per the entire meal

• Sodium: 800 milligrams or less sodium per the entire meal (starting July 1, 2013)

• Beneficial Nutrient: 10 percent or more of the Daily Value of one of the following nutrients per the entire meal: vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, iron, dietary fiber or protein

• Additionally: If the meal includes a beverage, the nutritional values for the beverage must be included as part of the nutritional profile of the overall meal. Acceptable beverages include: water, fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk, and beverages containing less than 10 calories per serving.

 

*The healthy item suggestions chosen on each of the vendor pages are based off of these criteria, but may fall outside of these criteria when the restaurant does not offer a choice that meets all of the requirements.  In which case, the items chosen for those restaurants are still the closest to meet these criteria.  

 

**For vendors that did not have nutritional information, we based the choices off of the ingredients of the meal and compared it to similar meals, and/or used reliable calorie counter websites to estimate the nutritional value of the meals at the venue.