EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) -
76 days to go until the opening of the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival.
It's the place to find some of the world's best fried foods. Plus now, some new, healthier options.
Long before the friers sizzle at the Fall Festival, some food vendors went to Deaconess Hospital's main campus to fine tune their menus.
"It's good for people. Everything down there is deep fried," said Jessica Martin, a Deaconess Dietitian.
Wise Choice is a Q&A session to help vendors not get rid of the fried foods you love, but to add healthier ones.
"As a matter of fact, I will go down there and partake upon some of those fried foods myself," Martin said. "What we're realizing is people are having health issues and having to watch the foods they eat, so they're really limited when they go to things like the Fall Festival."
That is until now. Martin says a food item must hit three criteria to be considered a Wise Choice.
Those criteria are:
- 500 mg of sodium or less
- 500 calories or less
- 5 grams of saturated fat or less.
Booths offering Wise Choice foods will get special signage so they'll be easy to find.
Your beloved favorites will still be where you found them last year.
"We're just wanting to offer more options," said 2012 festival chair Eric Shaw. "Maybe they'll come down, join us at the festival."
Deaconess says 16 vendors have already submitted recipes for the Wise Choice designation and most of them have been approved.
Copyright 2012 WFIE. All rights reserved.
Booths offering Wise Choice foods will get special signage so they'll be easy to find.
