Italian pasta giant Barilla wants to convince Americans that spaghetti, penne and lasagna are healthy food.
The company's wire-thin chief executive, Guido Barilla, says he eats pasta everyday -- sometimes twice a day. He calls it the base of the Mediterranean diet and doesn't understand why it gets such a bad rap.
"People do not know the facts," Barilla told CNNMoney at one of the company's three restaurants in New York City.
Barilla is planning a fourth location in Manhattan, and another on the West Coast in the next 12 months.
The 130-year old company is expanding to move closer to consumers and get a better sense of their preferences.
Barilla adjusts recipes for its sauces to make them tastier for the American market. The CEO said most Italians have a simple palate, while Americans want more garlic, spices, and sugar in their sauces.
One serving of pasta sauce has about 8 grams of sugar, or about two teaspoons. For context, one cup of the colorful children's cereal Trix has about 10 grams of sugar.
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While Guido downplayed the amount of sweetener in Barilla's recipes, he also conceded the company is working to reduce salt, sugar and fat in all its products.
Even with reduced-calorie sauce, pasta still faces a perception problem, thanks to anti-carb diets like Atkins and Paleo that emphasize proteins and fats.
Barilla hopes to try to distinguish pasta from so-called simple carbohydrates like white bread and donuts.
