The Next Fast-Food Trend: Want Spinach With That?

Lunch may be a greasy cheeseburger on the run or a low-fat turkey sandwich, but consumers could improve their nutrient intake with one substitution: spinach for iceberg lettuce.

Researchers at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville say you can’t taste the difference. And a sandwich garnished with spinach has far greater quantities of key nutrients, including vitamin C, vitamin A and folic acid.

Marjorie Fitch-Hilgenberg, assistant professor of nutrition, and Teddy Morelock, professor of horticulture, have been working since 1999 on a project to slip a little more nutrition into food.

“We know from the literature that people don’t eat the recommended number of servings of vegetables, and as a result, they’re missing out on the nutrients these vegetables provide,” Fitch-Hilgenberg said. “With spinach, we realized we could make a small change to the food people already eat and have a significant impact on their nutritional status.”

The researchers recreated hamburgers from fast-food restaurants and conducted a blind taste test. Forty tasters each received three half-burgers. Some received two halves with lettuce and one half with spinach. Others had two halves with spinach and one half with lettuce. After the test, the tasters completed a survey about their samples.

“The subjects didn’t know what they were tasting for, which part of the sandwich we had changed,” Fitch-Hilgenberg said.

Researchers found the tasters rated the spinach burgers equally as tasty as the ones with lettuce. Also, none of the tasters seemed to suspect the switch. Comments ranged from “too much onion” to “I don’t like hamburgers.”

The additional folic acid is something young women need since it helps reduce the risk of birth defects, researchers say.

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University of Arkansas: https://www.uark.edu