Giant Food Launches Guiding Stars®, World's First Store-Wide Nutrition Navigation Program

Clear labeling gives consumers quick, easy-to-understand nutrition advice

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Apr 03, 2018, 11:03 ET

LANDOVER, Md., April 3, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Giant Food of Landover, Md. is helping customers eat healthier and save time grocery shopping with a first-of-its kind nutrition navigation program, Guiding Stars. With symbols that are visible at a glance, Guiding Stars aims to take the guesswork out of nutrition by decoding labels into one clear rating. Available at all 166 Giant Food locations, tens of thousands of items will feature the star ranking system that showcases "good", "better" and "best" choices.

Guiding Stars is another example of Giant Food's commitment to giving its shoppers the tools they need to quickly identify the food attributes that are important to them. In 2017, Giant Food also rolled out the HowGood rating system which identifies products based on factors ranging from ingredient sourcing to labor practices.

"We know that more and more of our customers are prioritizing nutrition and in fact, our research tells us that over half of Americans cook at home because the meals are healthier*," said Lisa Coleman, Lead Nutritionist, Giant of Landover, Md. "We saw this growing demand for healthier meals and we set out to make it easier to shop for nutritious ingredients and meal solutions. Customers can find the products they're looking for faster and feel confident that they're selecting the foods that are best for their families."

Consistent with national policies including Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPlate, the Guiding Stars rating will be shown on products based on the below system:

1 star means an item has GOOD nutritional value
2 stars mean an item has BETTER nutritional value
3 stars mean an item has THE BEST nutritional value

If no Guiding Stars symbol is shown, the item is either not nutritionally recommended, new to the program and hasn't been rated yet, is less than five calories such as water or tea, is a dietary supplement, medical food such as baby formula or the product does not have nutrition information available.

According to the CDC, many consumers report having difficulty interpreting nutrition labels**. The Guiding Stars program is a simple way to provide clear answers and speed up the grocery shopping process. "Label reading can be intimidating and time consuming," continues Lisa Coleman. "We're thrilled to be giving this empowering tool to our customers to easily identify the products they want."

For Giant Food customers looking to buy their groceries online to enjoy the convenience of home delivery, Guiding Stars will be featured on tens of thousands of items on Peapod.com. Customers will be able to easily sort through products based on the Guiding Star rating for ease and convenience.

*ORC International conducted an online survey among 1,024 adults 18 years of age and older on November 27-29, 2017.

**US Consumers' Understanding of Nutrition Labels in 2013: The Importance of Health Literacy

About Giant Food of Landover, Md.
Giant Food of Landover, Md. is committed to helping its customers save time, save money and eat well. Headquartered in Landover, Md., Giant operates 166 supermarkets in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia, and employs approximately 20,000 associates. Included within the 166 stores are 156 full-service pharmacies. For more information on Giant, visit www.giantfood.com.

About Guiding Stars
Since 2006, the Guiding Stars nutrition guidance program has helped millions of consumers make more nutritious food choices. Based on its U.S. and Canadian patented nutrition rating algorithm, the program provides a simple, easy-to-understand tool for making nutritious choices and is designed to make a positive and lasting impact on public health. Guiding Stars is proud to provide nutrition guidance to over 1,950 Hannaford, Food Lion, Giant Martin's, Giant Food, and Stop & Shop Supermarkets in the U.S. In Canada, Guiding Stars is offered exclusively through Loblaw Companies Limited, and is currently in more than 900 stores from British Columbia to Newfoundland through Loblaws and its affiliated banner stores Atlantic Superstore®, Dominion®, Fortinos®, ProvigoMC, ProvigoMC Le Marche, Real Canadian Superstore®, Save Easy®, Valu-mart®, Your Independent Grocer® and Zehrs®. Guiding Stars can also be found in public school, college, corporate and hospital dining facilities and is accessible through the Shopper mobile app for iOS devices. For more information, visit www.guidingstars.com.

SOURCE Giant Food