healthier eating choices.

The registered dietitian and nutrition consultant says Bermudians want to be able to go into a local restaurant and not be loaded down with greasy items on the menu.

They want to be able to choose whether they want a pizza loaded with cheese and pepperoni or one sprinkled with low fat cheese and vegetables.

Mrs. Burull added: "There is certainly a market here for healthy cuisine.'' Hence the development of Eat Right Bermuda, a programme developed by Mrs.

Burull that teaches chefs and waiters from all establishments how to make their dishes low fat and more nutritious.

"The purpose of providing this programme in Bermuda is to get the opportunity to educate the entire restaurant staff at a fraction of the cost of sending employees abroad,'' Mrs. Burull said.

She added: "In the end, by reaching each employee, you should have a bigger impact on the success of creating low-fat, healthy cuisine.'' In a recent US report titled "Nutrition and Restaurants: A Consumer Perspective'' published by the National Restaurant Association (NRA) over two-thirds of adults reported that they are often concerned about their health.

And nearly nine out of ten Americans agree that food, diet and nutrition play a role in the prevention of serious illness such as heart disease and cancer.

While 55 percent of the adults report that they are less concerned about the nutritional value of the food they eat when eating out for a special occasion, 47 percent of consumers make a point of ordering foods that are nutritious, and 39 percent look for low-fat foods.

Mrs. Burull said there were two separate parts -- "Chefs Creating Lean'' and "Recreating Taste in Low Fat Cooking'' -- which she developed into one programme.

"This programme will also provide a total of nine hours of continuing education credit from the American Culinary Federation Education Institute,'' she said.

"So far since this course was first offered in March of this year, we have seen 43 chefs and 12 wait staff successfully complete the programme.'' Mrs. Burull added: "If you have to eat out it's a nightmare. You get lunch and dinner and your cholesterol shoots right up.

"The Bermuda Chefs Association contacted me to do nutrition education for chefs around the Island and I researched and discovered `Chef Creating Lean' which is a nutrition course for food professionals.

"Portofino is the first restaurant I have worked with as a whole, including the managers. They took the course every Saturday morning for seven weeks.'' Mrs. Burull said she was not teaching the chefs how to cook. "They are using their own creativity and at the end of the programme the restaurant staff are very educated.

"Now when you go into Portofino, 12 items on the menu, including specials, that will have little blue Eat Right ticks next to them which indicates that that item can be made with a modified fat content to meet the guidelines for healthy eating.

"These menu items all contain less than 30 percent of their calories from fat and are very low in saturated fat.'' And she added that patrons can request a nutrient analysis card on each ticked dish.

"I would love to see Bermudians eat healthier and it would be nice for them to be able to go to a Hamilton restaurant and get healthy meals.'' Mrs. Burull has also had big Eat Right blue tick stickers made to post in the windows of restaurants which will offer more nutritious menus.

"My main goal right now is to get restaurants and delis that are frequented by locals to start providing more healthier and low fat food choices with a nutrient analysis available for patrons,'' Mrs. Burull said.

"I believe the blue Eat Right Bermuda tick provides a standard. Those chefs who have attended the workshop have knowledge of what they are doing. I am not just providing the nutrition education but also helping restaurants to implement their knowledge.''