SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In California, this year's Cinco de Mayo holiday will be one "low-fat fiesta," especially if the state's Department of Health Services has anything to do with it.
The department is targeting the popular Mexican holiday under its Project LEAN (Low-fat Eating for America Now) campaign to help drive home the point to consumers about healthy eating. Project LEAN has designed a brochure, newsletters, recipes, radio tag lines and artwork for posters and grocery bags that contain the theme.
This year's brochure contains such tips as selecting soft corn and light flour tortillas and adding whole beans to meat fillings to increase fiber and protein, as well as recipes for Mexican dishes, including spicy avocado dip and homemade tortilla chips, tortilla casserole, Mexican rice and lemon corn cake.
Project LEAN has mailed binders to retailers outlining the program and seeking their input. At presstime, said Peggy Agron, marketing and media specialist for the California Department of Health Services here, most retailers were still contemplating how they would participate, although Save Mart Supermarkets, Modesto, had confirmed it would distribute the brochures.
Carol Impara, nutritionist at Trader Joe's, a specialty chain based in South Pasadena, told SN her chain is contemplating participating in this year's Cinco de Mayo event.