Mark Your Menu is a program in which offerings on a restaurants menu can be identified as heart healthy per criteria set forth by the American Heart Association (AHA). The Montclair Health Department is asking restaurants to submit a recipe(s), to the Health Department where the recipes will be analyzed using appropriate software.

Once the recipe has been analyzed a food label will be generated (like those found on packaged foods). A Registered Dietitian will then analyze this food label and determine if it is heart healthy per AHA criteria. If the recipe is heart healthy the food establishments will receive heart stickers to place besides the menu offering; indicating that this food item on your menu is heart healthy.

For patrons interested in learning more about the menu offering, the restaurant can provide you with a food label with all nutritional content.

Heart Disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States as in New Jersey with 21,801 deaths related to heart disease in 2003. On average there were 201 deaths per day and 60 were due to heart disease in this same year, 2003. These statistics remain true in Essex County as well; heart disease continues to be the number one cause of death in the county. Nearly 61% of the population of Essex County is either overweight (36.1) or obese 24.5%).

However, the problem of cardiovascular disease extends beyond just the number of deaths; an estimated one in four individuals has some form of cardiovascular disease and chances are most individuals have been touched by heart disease in some fashion.

We aspire to address heart disease in a manner that will be easily incorporated into an individual’s decision making process; we strive for a healthy community empowered to make wise health decisions.

Nutrition is just one of many preventable risk factors that are attributed to cardiovascular disease. Remember to engage in physical activity, control and monitor high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Limit alcohol intake and quit smoking.

If you are a restaurant and would like to participate in this program, please call the Health Department at (973) 509-4970 to receive an analysis form. If you are a resident who would like to obtain a list of restaurants participating in Mark Your Menu, please also call the above number.

Keep an eye out for those heart stickers on the menu at your favorite restaurant!

Thank you to Mountainside Hospital Community Benefits Committee for funding this project.