- Apr
- 26
- 2018
Fresh baked. Never fried.
Our Food and Nutrition teams serve up over 25,000 meals daily for patients, community and our team members, which equates to 25,000 opportunities to help someone make a healthy choice in their eating and personal well-being. As Northwell Health continues refining its three-year Food and Nutrition Transformation, we identified many instances to align food and nutrition offerings to what we know as healthcare providers is good for our health.
One major accomplishment is the shift from deep frying to freshly baking. The science is compelling to move away from fried foods. There is strong evidence suggesting an association of fried food consumption with a higher risk of developing chronic disease in adults, according to the National Center of Biotechnology Information of the National Institutes of Health.
“Fried foods are high in fat, calories and usually salt, too,” says Michelle Milgrim, RD, Manager, Employee Wellness. “We’re offering delicious baked alternatives that offer the same satisfying crunch with half the calories and even less fat. What matters most is helping our patients heal and keeping our team members healthy. We know that food can be medicine when we prepare and serve high quality food that eliminates ingredients that are shown to be bad for our health.”
Seventy-five percent of our sites have removed their deep fryers, with plans to remove them from the remaining 25% of kitchens in the coming months. Our chefs are using healthy cooking methods in lieu of frying, such as grilling, baking, roasting, stir fry and steaming. A few examples of how the food we serve is transforming include:
– French fries to chef-made signature potato wedges
– French fries and tater tots are baked not fried
– Pre-fried frozen chicken to fresh chicken baked to perfection
Look for the Northwell Healthy Choice icon to quickly identify meals and snacks that meet our heart-healthy nutrition criteria, and when you choose other options, you can be confident that we have sourced foods that meet quality standards that are good for your health. Questions? Contact employeewellness@northwell.edu.
Wonderful! I have been waiting for this for years. So many foods can be baked and with the addition of the right spices, they are just as good and healthy. Thank you.
I really appreciate the many organic and other healthful snack and meal options in the cafeteria. Is there any chance you could provide packets of Stevia sweetener in lieu of sugar substitutes? Sweet Leaf is a great brand. I bring my own, but on rare occasion find I have run out. Also I would love to have this great natural herb given the opportunity to be tried by others who must stay far from sugar. Thank you.
Hi Jane, thank you for the suggestion. I’ve shared your suggestion with Employee Wellness for further exploration.
Dina Morgan
Italian style meatballs can also be baked and not fried.
Do you have a good recipe for Italian style meatballs you’d like to share? I always overcook mine in the oven, what’s your secret?
Dina Morgan
Baked instead of frying is great. However, can you also apply that theory when you “steam” vegetables? Very often, the vegetables are sitting in a large amount of oil – which they absorb – and defeats the purpose of preparing healthy meals. Also, the quality of the oil they are soaking in is questionable as it is very hard on the stomach (and the waist). Thanks –
Hi Margaret, yes, steaming is also an excellent way to prepare vegetables, so is roasting. Lots of options for our chefs as they prepare veggies for our team members, visitors and patients.
Dina