The lack of low-fat menu items in most restaurants, and the lack of specific nutritional information about fat and cholesterol content of menu items, means that many consumers simply reduce the frequency of eating out at restaurants. I forgot to mention that low-fat foods must taste good . This is where food manufacturers and supermarkets are opening up such a great advantage over restaurants. Restaurants tend to be in the stone age when it comes to product testing among consumers. Food manufacturers put much greater emphasis upon product improvement and product testing, and tend to view it as an on-going and continuous process.
Restaurants tend to put an item on the menu and forget it.
Most restaurants really do not know if any of their menu offerings taste good to consumers, or not. Naturally, they do not know if their low-fat menu choices taste good, either. Likewise, restaurants must have quality-control standards and procedures in place in every restaurant, and consistent employee training and quality monitoring, to ensure the consistent delivery of great tasting foods to their customers. An important part of the quality-control system is the proper and systematic rotation of all food inventory to ensure product freshness and acceptability. Restaurants have been enormously successful over the last three decades in taking market share away from supermarkets and food manufacturers.