Health and Wellness Leads : Corporate Wellness Program Ideas: Low Fat Foods Sampling

Often people avoid low fat foods because they think these foods do not taste great. To help inform staff members, purchase a variety of low fat foods and put them out in a conference room for an hour or so for a drop-in tasting session. Or, arrange for low-fat potlucks encouraging staff members to bring and share their favorite low fat or healthy dishes.

Considerations:
• Make sure the selections actually taste good.
• Provide a “fact sheet” with the names and price of the various products to assist participants if they want to purchase these products from the supermarket.
• Give other written information on great nutrition for any interested participants to take. Utilize websites and other resources listed in the Resource Section at the end of this guide.
• Offer small tasting spoons or wooden ice cream tasters.
• It doesn’t require much of each item to give participants a taste of the meals or dish. It is not significant to buy enough, or bring enough, food to support a meal.
• Plan the tasting room after lunch so participants can go in on their own and sample.
• Keep an eye out for overly sugary items…sometimes low fat means elevated sugar – so be sure to read the label.
• Examples of purchases for a workplace sampling might include: 2 boxes of healthy crackers, a package of low fat cheese, a box of low fat cookies, two or three low fat spreads such as hummus, low fat cream cheese, a package of honey nut or other flavored rice crackers, and one or two other low fat items.
• Position signs on the table gently reminding participants that the idea is to sample, not have a meal.
• Offer a beverage such as a new kind of fruit juice or herbal tea.