Grocery shoppers at Hannaford stores no longer have to wonder about full disclosure in the puffed up claims on food labels on store shelves. In September, the New England-based grocery chain launched the first-ever storewide nutrition navigation system, which gives nearly all the food in its stores a rating from zero to three stars.

An independent panel of six nutritionists and a physician provided the formula for Guiding Stars, which rated 27,000 items. Of those, 77 percent did not qualify for any stars, including many, like V-8 and Lean Cuisine products, that promote themselves as healthy.

They may be vitamin rich, but they lose points for extra sodium under the Guiding Stars system.

The system goes a step beyond FDA requirements, giving points for vitamins, minerals, fiber and whole grains, and subtracting points for saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium and added sugars. Just one element, such as added sugar or added sodium, can make a big difference in categories like yogurts, cereals and soups.
The system also takes into account differences between types of foods, such as red meat and pasta.

Spokespeople for the store have compared the stars to a “good,” “better” and “best” rating, and say items with no stars still qualify as “sometimes” foods.
Baby foods, bottled water, oils and fats, alcoholic beverages and coffee, tea and spices were not rated.

More information is available online at www.hannaford.com/Contents/Healthy_Living/Guiding_Stars/index.shtml.