According to a grocery store in Maine, pointing customers toward better nutrition does pay off. The Hannaford Brothers Company formulated a guide that rates the nutritional content of food items sold in their stores. The system is based on zero to three stars. An item with zero stars is rated as having little or no nutritional value while three stars emphasizes a greater nutritional content.

Many food companies promote their own labels as being healthy, but often The Hannaford Brothers “Guiding Stars” nutritional rating system contradicted self-promoted healthy products, finding them to have little or no nutritional value and many times filled with excessive sodium or sugars. The yearlong study by The Hannaford Brothers Company concluded that their nutritional guide system has had a major impact steering consumers toward healthier choices, especially in the packaged-food category, including cereals, soups and breads. Lisa Southerland, assistant professor of pediatrics and nutritional science at Dartmouth Medical School and a member of The Hannaford Brothers nutritional advisory board remarked about the results of the study saying, “They are pretty much what I would have expected with an objective system that wasn’t designed to promote or negate one food or another.” Definitely, food for thought!


Jerri, DTR
Nutrition Specialist

"You never know what you can do, unless you try"

Labels: Grocery shopping