So, Hannafords supermarkets recently unveiled a “Guiding Star” program to assess the healthfulness of the foods they sell. Healthfulness was measured from 0 stars (unhealthy) to 3 stars (healthy). And guess what: 77% of the foods they sell earned no stars — including a bunch of foods that make health claims. This isn’t an indictment of Hannafords; I think it’s terrific that they’re doing this. It’s an indictment of the American supermarket.
The background: Hannaford Brothers, a New England supermarket chain, hired a team of nutrition scientists, all from reputable places (Tufts, Dartmouth Medical School, UNC, Harvard). The team took nutrition guidelines developed by the U.S. government, the World Health Organization, the National Academy of Sciences and private groups like the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association and the American Dietetics Association. Then they developed a mathematical formula that scores food and beverages on their positive attributes (vitamins and minerals, fiber and whole grains) as well as their less-healthy ingredients (trans fats, saturated fat, cholesterol, added sodium and added sugars).
We knew that there were unhealthful foods in the supermarket…but 77%? Here’s why it matters: because shoppers buy what is on the store shelves. Tons of research has been done on this: if you walk past it in the supermarket, you will buy it. Or at least some portion of it – that’s why supermarkets are set up the way they are, with staples in the back. Nutrition guru Marion Nestle reports that 70% of us shop with a list, but only 10% of list shoppers keep to their list. In fact, most people buy two additional items for every one item on the list. Those are impulse buys, and we all make them — foodies, nutrition researchers, all of us. That’s why dieticians recommend never venturing into the middle aisles, where the least healthful, most processed foods are: because if you don’t walk by them, you won’t buy them. But if more than three-quarters of foods earn zero stars? You’ve got to be pretty committed to not wind up with junk in your cart.
The New York Times published an article on this that you’ll now need to pay for; I found the article for free on CorpWatch.
Kudos to Hannafords for hiring an independent team, rather than using the “expertise” of food company researchers. And what can we take from it? Two things: if a processed food is making health claims, don’t believe the hype. And you had better stick with those outer aisles…and even then, watch out.
I’d love to see that rating for the processed stuff at Whole Foods, too! But I am sooo guilty. I fall apart in the cheese aisle. Going along fine, produce, dairy, meats, few canned items …. CHEESE, BREAD, CHOCOLATE, CHEESE. A hundred extra bucks in the cart and away we go. I am sad, sad, sad.
Nice blog. LOVED the article on the chocolate cake. Glad you got linked!