Growth Trajectory Continues at Healthy Dining with Expert Staff Additions Designed to Capitalize on Convergence of Restaurant Nutrition and Digital Health Communications

Healthy Dining, the company behind the largest-ever restaurant industry initiative focused on nutrition, announces the addition of five new experts to the team in order to enhance the mission of making it easy to eat healthier when eating out.  The undeniable intersection of restaurant nutrition and digital health in the midst of growing consumer interest in nutrition, as well as upcoming menu labeling legislation, new gluten-free standards and heightened awareness of food allergies make the timing of these additions critically important.

“We are thrilled to be able to able to attract such talented nutrition and marketing professionals to our current team of experts. By expanding our team, we can build on our success of helping Americans, wherever they are, find restaurants offering dietitian-recommended Healthy Dining choices.  More than 4,000 Healthy Dining choices are currently featured on HealthyDiningFinder.com.  Our new team members will help us expand the number of restaurants and Healthy Dining choices,” says Anita Jones-Mueller, President and Founder of Healthy Dining.

Formed over two decades ago, Healthy Dining is the restaurant industry leader when it comes to marrying culinary nutrition with strategic digital health communications to skillfully impact consumers’ growing quest for healthier cuisine.  In addition, the team works with hundreds of restaurant companies, providing nutrition analysis services, menu labeling guidance and gluten and allergen identification.

“Our highly dedicated and expanded expert staff will enable us to work in closer partnership with restaurants nationwide to ensure that dining out and health can go together in the minds and appetites of consumers,” adds Jones-Mueller, based on her years of working directly with consumers, restaurateurs, chefs and nutritionists.

To help ensure the dietitian-recommended menu items meet the taste expectations of restaurants’ most loyal guests, Healthy Dining welcomes four culinary dietitians to the growing team:

Meredith Hart, MS, RD –  With experience ranging from clinical dietetics in the private foodservice sector to working in a public policy role, Hart brings ‘big picture’ thinking to the nutrition team at Healthy Dining, backed by a master’s degree in nutrition policy from Tufts University. Her work will be focused on culinary and menu analyses, especially for new member restaurants. “With our collective national love of eating out, it is important that we keep the great taste and joy of eating out while also delivering on health. An ever increasing number of restaurants are seeing the benefits of offering more nutritious options to their customers,” says Hart.

Rachel Rothman, MS, RD – Armed with previous food ingredient and regulatory experience, as well children’s nutrition education work, Rothman holds a master’s degree in nutrition education from Columbia University.  Helping current and new member restaurants integrate more nutritious options into their menus will be the focus of her work. “There is no reason why good health, great taste and eating out can’t go together. It is all about the individual and offering varied menu options to fit his or her specific needs,” adds Rothman.

Amber Caswell, MPH, RD, CLE – From her previous work with Feeding America to her master’s degree in public health from Loma Linda University, Caswell is committed to helping others live a healthier and happier lifestyle, especially children. Her role at Healthy Dining will encompass working with restaurants and chefs to improve recipes with an emphasis on families eating out nutritiously. “As both a dietitian and a mom, I see firsthand how powerful eating out can be for families. Rather than viewing eating out as a potential health derailer, eating out supports good health when healthy menu choices are widespread and available,” says Caswell.

Kathleen Papandrea, RD – With experience in nutrition analyses, food labeling policy and development of gluten-free recipes, Papandrea brings timely knowledge and experience to Healthy Dining. Her work as a registered dietitian is focused on ensuring that the healthier recipes developed in collaboration with restaurant members meet Healthy Dining’s nutrition criteria. “Understanding the ingredient breakout in recipes is critical to our work. If we do our jobs well, restaurant customers are assured of having plenty of options that deliver on the promise of great taste and great health,” says Papandrea.

To bring greater digital and influencer engagement to HealthyDiningFinder.com and to help spread the word that healthful options are plentiful on menus across the country, Healthy Dining is amplifying its strategic communications expertise with the addition of Rachel Cheatham:

Rachel Cheatham, PhD, Nutrition Public Relations and Content Strategist – Dr. Cheatham, CEO & President of Foodscape Group, LLC, and adjunct Professor of Food and Nutrition Marketing at Tufts University, joins the team as a consultant to increase exposure and reach through media, social and influencer networks. “The passion and dedication of the Healthy Dining team are contagious, and together we are working to change the way Americans eat out. Delicious and nutritious choices are widespread on menus. Now we just need to make choosing them the no-brainer default, not the exception,” says Cheatham.

By uniquely bringing together restaurant nutrition and digital health communications, the newly expanded Healthy Dining team will be instrumental in contributing to the company’s vision of a healthier America.

About Healthy Dining

For more than two decades, Healthy Dining has led the largest-ever restaurant industry nutrition initiative, which brings culinary nutrition expertise to chefs and restaurateurs who proudly serve a selection of dietitian-recommended Healthy Dining menu choices. Working with hundreds of restaurants nationwide, the Healthy Dining team consists of registered dietitians, master’s level health educators and Ph.D. researchers, who have analyzed thousands of menu items for both current and suggested reformulated nutrition content. Healthy Dining offers the only e-health tool of its kind at HealthyDiningFinder.com, providing a guide to more than 4,000 menu items at more than 400 restaurant brands sorted by ZIP code. In collaboration with the National Restaurant Association, Healthy Dining leads the groundbreaking children’s nutrition initiative called Kids LiveWell, which includes more than 140 restaurant companies. Additional partners include the National Institutes of Health (NIH), American Heart Association, the American Institute for Cancer Research, Produce for Better Health, Whole Grains Council, American Express and others. For more information, visit HealthyDiningFinder.com or follow company news on Twitter via @dineouthealthy.