Action line #80507 - DIning Facility meal choices

  • Published
  • By Anonymous
  • 39th Air base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Complaint:

Although I only have one dining facility to choose from the Sultan's Inn is a highly clean facility and great staff. My only concern is that the meals served have a calorie count on the dinner side anywhere from 350-720 and that is only for the meat portion not including the vegetable, rice or other side dish of your choice. Being that a health daily calorie allowance is about 1500 for females I find it difficult to try and keep the Air Force image of Fit to fight when certain days one meal may bring me to 800 calories. I also have had the salad with just grilled chicken or the stir fry but I am here for 15 months and I am not sure if that can be my main source each day. I think it's bad that I can go to the fast food section of the dining facility and have a meal equal only 450 in calories.

I would like to see if we could offer meals low in calories like in the states and chain restaurants (weight watchers, Adkins) so those trying to strive for being fit to fight have an easier time selecting the right meals when we have one dining choice outside of paying out of our own pocket when we should be using our meal cards to get exactly what we need without out of pocket expense.

Response:

Thanks for your question and I applaud your efforts to remain Fit to Fight. You may know that the Sultan's Inn complies with AF Instructions by serving the worldwide Air Force 14-day menu cycle; however you may not know that this instruction doesn't allow us to participate in "fad diets."

As such, aside from serving whole grain foods and offering fresh fruit/juices and a salad bar with a wide selection of fresh vegetables and fat-free salad dressings, the Sultan's Inn addresses healthy food needs by serving a wide variety of baked and broiled fish and poultry dishes prepared using healthy recipes. In fact, during lunch and dinner, at least one entrée on the main line meets healthy choice criteria, meaning that it meets U.S. dietary guidelines with regard to fat and cholesterol content. These entrees are identified by the DoD nutrition logo on the cherry color nutrition card on the serving line.

As for the calorie count of our menu choices, rather than focusing only on the number of calories in a particular serving, we provide a reduced calorie meal with less than 30 percent of the total calories from fat - for the whole meal. We also ensure food is prepared using Air Force standardized recipes and baked, broiled and steamed foods are featured with smaller portions available when requested by the customer.