If you've ever wandered the grocery store aisles wishing there were an easy way to pick out the most healthy foods, a Maine-based grocery chain may have a solution.
A nutritional rating system using gold stars affixed to price labels on store shelves appears to have shifted buying habits, potentially providing another tool to educate consumers on how to eat healthier, according to a study.
The independent study, published recently in the journal Food Policy, examined a proprietary gold-star system used in Hannaford Supermarkets and suggested the labels steered shoppers away from items with no stars toward healthier foods.
It's the most rigorous scientific study focusing on Guiding Stars, which was instituted in 2006 in Hannaford stores and is now licensed for use in more than 1,800 stores in the U.S. and Canada.
Researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration and the University of Florida focused on the cereal aisle.
During the first 20 months of the program, sales of no-star cereals fell in both groups: 13% at Hannaford stores and 10% at the other stores. Likewise, the shift to healthier cereals was slightly greater at Hannaford stores, compared with the others. The study's authors said they believe the additional shift in sales was due to the influence of Guiding Stars.
“My daughter, Emily, she'll count the stars. The more stars, the better the food,” Angela Buck told the Associated Press recently while with her 3-year-old daughter in a Hannaford store in Colonie, N.Y.
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