While the state of the U.S. economy remains precarious, there is room for optimism when looking at the current restaurant industry landscape in the context of recent history. Although the housing market remains in a trough, consumer spending is rising modestly.  Household debt ratios have declined, which bodes well for the discretionary income growth needed to increase guest traffic and guest check.  Moreover, food and accommodations spending is outpacing other personal consumption expenditures.  Correspondingly, Packaged Facts estimates that sales at restaurants and drinking places reached $476.7 billion in 2011, up 6.1% from 2010.   Menu trends also, of course, drive restaurant industry performance.  As indicated by the National Restaurant Association’s What’s Hot in 2011 survey, local/sustainable and healthfulness trends are top of mind, sous vide and braising are among the trendy preparation methods, and nutritionally balanced children’s dishes are a public pressure trend.  According to Datassential MenuTrends data, moreover, natural and organic claims are the most likely health- and ecological-related claims to be found on restaurant menus, with almost 16% of restaurant menus featuring a natural claim and almost 14% featuring an organic claim. While organic and natural claims are more to be likely found on casual and fine dining menus, fat free and low fat claims are most likely to be found on QSR menus.  This brief white paper draws from our report on The Foodservice Landscape in the U.S.: Restaurant Industry and Consumer Trends