K-12 Digital Menu Boards with Nutritional Labeling - Simple and Effective way to fight Obesity

Jan. 6, 2011 - PRLog -- Beverly Hills, CA. Epicure Digital, a leader in digital menu boards, presents the Epicure Digital Menu System with special emphasis on nutritional labeling at the California School Nutrition Association (CSNA) Annual Conference and Exhibition in Pasadena, California, January 14-15 , 2011 , Booth #415.

Epicure Digital Systems is a digital menu board company uniquely integrating its expertise in software technology and food service operations and marketing to create digital signage products and services for the food service industry. Its core product is the Epicure Digital Menu System™. Its core services are menu engineering, nutritional menu labeling, and content creation.

Digital menu boards with nutritional menu labeling were identified as one of the simplest and most effective ways to fight Childhood Obesity, with immediate proven results. They communicate with students while in line in the cafeteria, just when they are selecting their food, at the point of service. Digital menu boards are at the battlefront, ready to combat childhood obesity and educate students to make healthier food choices.

A health impact assessment conducted by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health and published on the Center for Science in the Public Interest website on “Menu Labeling as a Potential Strategy for Combating the Obesity Epidemic” concluded that “Using conservative assumptions that calorie postings would result in 10% of large chain restaurant patrons ordering reduced calorie meals, with an average reduction of 100 calories per meal, and no compensatory increase in other food consumption, menu labeling would avert 38.9% of the 6.75 million pound average annual weight gain in the county population aged 5 years and older. Substantially larger impacts would be realized if higher percentages of restaurant patrons ordered reduced calorie meals or average per meal calorie reductions increased. These findings suggest that mandated menu labeling at fast food and other large chain restaurants could have a sizable salutary impact on the obesity epidemic, even with only modest changes in consumer behavior.” The full document can be viewed at http://www.cspinet.org/new/pdf/la_co._menu_labeling_repor...

The Epicure Digital Menu System lets operators control LCD menu boards and signage in any number of locations, easily and quickly, online, with customized configurable web templates using Epicure Digital LiveMenu™ and LiveText™ user interfaces. Operators can change prices and menus, schedule menus and promotions by day part and menu cycle, and display other information such as nutritional labeling and data, videos, photos, and live feeds from the Internet. Clients operate more efficiently and engage customers in powerful new ways.

Epicure Digital specializes in developing nutritional labeling systems to educate and inform customers to make healthier meal choices. These nutritional labels display as nutritional data, nutritional scoring, icons representing food groups, healthy choices, and allergens, whichever and whenever are applicable, next to menu items. All of this data can be easily entered manually or imported from third party nutritional scoring and food service management systems such as Computrition® Hospitality Suite®.

Epicure Digital was founded by Harvey Friedman, a software developer and restaurateur. In 1992, when he co-founded World Links, a fast food chain, he had the idea to create the world’s first digital menu board system. World Links grew to eleven stores nationwide. Creating the world’s first digital menuboard network. Over the next nine years, Mr. Friedman combined his experience operating a restaurant chain with his interest in emerging digital technologies to develop what is now known as the Epicure Digital Menu System.

According to Mr. Friedman, "By creatively combining information, motion, imagery and food photography, we produce visually compelling multimedia menus and promotions to help sell menu items and enhance the dining experience. We call this experience: The Cure for the Menu Bored™. "

Epicure Digital engineers and designs customized digital menu boards for each client that solve their complex menu engineering and point-of-sale marketing issues with multi-screen and multi-station digital menu, signage and greeter board systems.

In new construction, remodeling and renovation projects, Epicure Digital works closely with food service consultants and clients to determine the best digital menu system strategy and participates in the management of the projects from concept phase to full implementation.

Epicure Digital’s clients include colleges and universities, hospitals, K-12 Schools, independent and chain restaurants, contract food service companies, business & industry, and cinemas and casinos among others.

Epicure Digital is a Cisco Eco Partner and provides Cisco Digital Media Suite (DMS) compatible digital menu board solutions and utilizes the DMP 4400 players for the Cisco DMS Compatible menu board systems.

The company's website (http://www.epicuredigital.com) has an extensive portfolio of its client's multi screen and multi station digital menu board projects.

For more information, contact:
Tommy Orpaz, 310-652-8246
torpaz@epicuredigital.com