If nutrition labels are already on grocery-store foods, do you really need more stickers telling you how healthy a product is? More and more supermarkets think so, and are teaming up with big health organizations (including Harvard Medical School, the Joslin Diabetes Center and let’s not forget the Cleveland Clinic) to devise stickers, signs or shelf tags that help you decide whether to put something in your cart.
We’re still fans of reading the Nutrition Facts panel and deciding for yourself. But some of these nutrition scoring systems are useful. These five could be coming to a store near you:
The Label: Healthy Ideas
What it is: Stop & Shop and Giant Food give the thumbs up to more than 5,000 eats, thanks to their Healthy Ideas symbol, created by doctors and nutritionists affiliated with Harvard Medical School. Foods have to qualify as “healthy” according to Food and Drug Administration standards, which means being low in total and saturated fat, and having limited sodium and cholesterol. They also have to pack a not terribly impressive 10 percent daily minimum for some or all of the following: vitamins A and C, protein, fiber, iron and calcium.
Pros and cons: A big, fat thumbs down! Many lesser foods, like certain kinds of popcorn, pretzels and chips, get the grade yet sap your energy!
The Label: GO!Foods
What it is: Masterminded by Lifestyle 180 gurus (a disease-reversal program) at the Cleveland Clinic, this system sizes up foods based on five easy categories: saturated fat, trans fat, sugar, whole grains and sodium. To earn the GO!Foods sticker, a main dish needs fewer than 4 grams of saturated fat and added sugar, fewer than 600 milligrams of sodium and must be 100 percent whole grain and trans-fat-free. Numbers for smaller nibbles, like sides, soups and desserts, are slightly lower (but the whole-grain rule still sticks). It’s based on data of which foods don’t age your body, and which give it energy without side effects.
Pros and cons: With Dr. Mike hailing from the Cleveland Clinic, we’re pretty biased about this. So far, GO!Foods are available at Heinen’s grocery stores, at Progressive Field, home of the Cleveland Indians, soon to be at the Browns Stadium and at all Cleveland Clinic cafeterias and patient areas.
The Label: Guiding Stars
What it is: Guiding Stars uses a system of one (good) to three (best) stars to size up the nutritional oomph of more than 60,000 foods. To figure out how many stars a food deserves, Guiding Stars balances the good stuff (vitamins, minerals, fiber and whole grains) against the bad (unhealthy fat and added sodium and sugar). Guiding Stars is in chains like Hannaford’s, Bloom and Food Lion, and in restaurants, hospitals, school cafeterias and college dining halls. It even has its own iPhone app.
Pros and cons: Aim for two or more stars; most of the one-star choices are low-calorie snacks — not energy-giving foods.
The Label: Nutrition iQ
What it is: Developed with the Joslin Diabetes Center, Nutrition iQ is being rolled out in the Supervalu family of grocery stores, including Acme, Albertson’s, Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Hornbacher’s, Jewel-Osco, Lucky and Shop ‘n Save. The system color-codes 11 nutrient claims. An excellent source of fiber gets an orange tag. Low-calorie foods? Purple tags. Those high in calcium? Blue tags.
Pros and cons: If you’re colorblind, this one’s not for you.
The Label: NuVal
What it is: If you’re a math geek, NuVal may work. It compiles stats for more than 30 nutrients, like sugar, sodium, cholesterol, protein, vitamins and minerals, then spits out a score ranging from 1 (the lowest) to 100.
Pros and cons: NuVal’s supersophisticated algorithm isn’t perfect. While it will nudge you toward uber-healthy eats like fat-free milk and unprocessed wheat bran, some of the scores seem off. For instance, boneless, skinless chicken breasts — portion-sized by Perdue to be 130 calories each — rate a less-than-stellar 39 because of added sodium.
Some of these systems are like used-car salesmen used to be: not interested in the long term. Learn how the scoring system in your store works. If it isn’t an honest one for your health, shop elsewhere. After all, your life depends on how much energy you’ll feel tomorrow and many years from now.
The YOU Docs, Mehmet Oz and Mike Roizen, are authors of “YOU: On a Diet.” Want more? See “The Dr. Oz Show” on TV (check local listings). To submit questions, visit realage.com.
