Healthy Dining announces the appointment of a new Board Member, Jose Mallabo, to join the existing board of thought leaders all converging to bring integrated expertise to the mission of helping Americans eat healthier when dining out.
Anita Jones-Mueller, President and Founder of Healthy Dining, said, “Jose is a highly creative digital strategist who brings content storytelling to a whole new level. Not only does he share Healthy Dining’s burning passion to unite optimal health with the culinary artistry of the restaurant industry, but he also brings cutting edge expertise in utilizing digital media to engage the growing sophistication of nutrition savvy restaurant diners. We are thrilled to have Jose join our current board of experts.”
Mallabo brings a wealth of knowledge from his varied background in marketing, public relations and digital engagement. He has held senior level positions at Ebay, Inc. and LinkedIn, as well as being a co-founder of the startup Tweetalicious. Earlier in his career, Mallabo worked at the American Heart Association, where he first realized the power of public health outreach. Jose holds a master’s of science in mass communications from San Diego State University and is now the Senior VP of Marketing and Public Relations at Savannah College of Art and Design.
“Understanding how to reach consumers through engagement and real dialogue versus the old top down model is critical when it comes to improving the health of Americans. What we eat is directly linked to our health, and most of us eat out quite regularly, so I see that Healthy Dining is solving a real problem that can enhance and save lives,” says Mallabo.
The current Healthy Dining board is led by Anita Jones-Mueller and includes members Alan Gould, Fred LeFranc and Sheri Miksa, bringing a collective total of more than 100 years of marketing and restaurant industry leadership.
As a nationally recognized nutrition expert and serving in her role as Chairman of the Board, Anita Jones-Mueller has the unique ability to converge and leverage the brainpower and know-how of chefs, restaurateurs, culinary dietitians, nutrition scientists, communications and digital marketing strategists all toward the public health mission of empowering Americans to eat healthier when dining out. For Jones-Mueller, who holds a master’s degree in public health, the drive to unite optimal health with the culinary artistry of the restaurant industry is unwavering. Working in partnership with her interdisciplinary team, she believes as more and more Americans utilize www.HealthyDiningFinder.com to locate healthy restaurant meals, the positive public health impacts will be far-reaching and significant.
Alan Gould has spent more than 35 years in the foodservice and hospitality industries. He is the retired publisher of Nation’s Restaurant News, the foodservice industry’s largest trade publication and website, where he was employed until 2008, the same year he retired and joined the Healthy Dining Board.
“Serving as a board member of Healthy Dining is a very special personal and professional opportunity. It allows me to make a difference by helping to guide the groundbreaking nutrition-oriented businesses of Healthy Dining’s management team – a dedicated group of experts whose vision and passion are improving the health of American adults and children every day,” says Gould.
Fred LeFranc leads Results thru Strategy, a consultancy focused on helping restaurant companies and senior executives implement strategies that deliver long-term success. He was previously President and CEO of the Ruby Restaurant Group, Real Mex Restaurants and Flat Rock Grille.
“The Healthy Dining mission resonates with my values in providing diners well-informed choices when dining out. Healthy Dining’s services are unique in our industry and have paved the way for the dining public to take responsibility for their meal choices, while enabling restaurants to provide nutritional information to their guests,” says LeFranc.
Sheri Miksa has more than 25 years of experience in the restaurant, foodservice and hospitality industries. She is recognized as a visionary leader and was previously CEO of Boneheads Grilled Fish & Piri Piri Chicken, Robeks Juice and Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grills.
“Joining the board was an easy decision, since Healthy Dining is the industry’s most respected ‘go-to- company’ for nutrition services. We were an ‘early adopter’ when I was CEO of Rubio’s, with our flavorful HealthMex items. I continue to recommend Healthy Dining to executives in the foodservice industry and www.HealthyDiningFinder.com to individuals seeking healthier options when dining out,” says Miksa.
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 www.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 www.HealthyDiningFinder.com or follow company news on Twitter via @dineouthealthy.
