Basics of Guiding Stars Studying the Stars - How It Works Stars, No Stars Q. What is the Guiding Stars program and how does it help me when I shop in Sweetbay Supermarkets?
A. Guiding Stars is the first-ever, storewide nutrition navigation system in Florida. It offers busy shoppers a quick, at-a-glance tool if they’re looking for foods with more nutrition for the calories.
Q. Why did Sweetbay develop Guiding Stars?
A. Shoppers told us they wanted to live healthier lifestyles, but were confused by information currently available to them. Guiding Stars offers a simple, easy to understand tool for making choices as you shop.
Q. What makes Guiding Stars a unique program?
A. The Guiding Stars nutrition navigation system …
- Provides the first-ever, storewide navigation system.
- Evaluates 65,000+ edible items – all brands – according to their nutritional value.
- Includes fresh items such as produce, meat, seafood and deli (not just packaged foods).
A. Guiding Stars is not intended to be a substitute for the package nutrition information. Sweetbay encourages shoppers to read the Nutrition Facts label and ingredient list to help you choose the products that are best for you and your family.
Q. Where will I find the Stars?
A. Look for the Stars on the unit price tags on the shelf, produce signs, meat, poultry and seafood case signs, and on scale labels on the front of Sweetbay, Hannaford and Nature's Place brand foods.
Q. Who developed the system?
A. This proprietary system was developed by PhD nutrition scientists from Dartmouth Medical School and the University of North Carolina’s School of Public Health, as well as the advisory panel, with nutrition and medical experts from Harvard, Tufts, University of California, Davis and the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine.
Q. Are the advisors on your panel paid by Sweetbay?
A. The advisory panel members are paid as consultants for their expertise in nutrition and public health.
Q. Did Sweetbay test the program with shoppers?
A. Yes, Sweetbay tested the program both in focus groups and quantitatively in surveys (more than 3,000 shoppers). Of those surveyed, 84 percent said they would use this system fairly often or very often.
Studying the Stars – How It Works
Q. How does a product get a Star?A. Guiding Stars uses a proprietary rating formula (patent pending) to credit a food’s score for the presence of vitamins, minerals, fiber and/or whole grains and debit a food’s score for the presence of trans and/or saturated fats, cholesterol, added sugars, and added sodium. The resulting score determines whether the item receives 1, 2, 3 or no Stars.
Q. What is the difference between 1-, 2- and 3-Starred foods?
A. The system is a “good, better and best” ranking. Compared with a 2-Star food, for example, a 3-Star food has more vitamins, minerals and/or whole grains and less trans fats, saturated fats, cholesterol, added sugars and/or added sodium.
Q. Are all Starred foods within each rating level (e.g., all 3 Stars foods) equally nutritious across the store?
A. Not necessarily. Every food group has a unique combination of attributes. A healthful diet includes a variety of foods across categories. You may notice that some categories have more choices with Stars than others. Some food categories may have few or no foods with Stars because these foods do not meet the criteria. As you go through each aisle of the store, the Guiding Stars system can help you identify more nutritious options within that section. For example, among nutrient-rich choices, when shopping for:
- Cereals: Cereals with less added sugars and more whole grains are likely to have Stars
- Meats, Seafood, Poultry and Dairy: You’re likely to see Stars for foods with less saturated fat and cholesterol
- Soups: Soups with less added sodium and more vitamins & minerals receive Stars
- Breads: Guiding Stars indicate bread products with less trans fat and added sugars, and more whole grains
A. No. Many foods do not get Stars, either because they do not meet the nutritional criteria for a Star or because they haven’t been rated. Of course you can still enjoy foods without Stars – just be sure to balance those foods with more nutritious foods and a healthy, active lifestyle.
Q. Some products look the same to me, but only a few get Stars. Why?
A. Just one element, such as added sugar or added sodium, can make a big difference in categories like yogurts, cereals and soups.
Q. Are the Stars criteria the same for all foods in the store?
A. Meats, poultry, seafood, dairy and nuts are naturally higher in saturated fats and – with the exception of nuts – naturally higher in cholesterol. And, they do not have fiber (only animal products have cholesterol). The formula recognizes these natural differences.
Q. Why are meat, poultry, seafood, dairy and nuts treated differently?
A. If we used the same measurement for these categories, few – if any – items would receive Stars. Then you would not be able to distinguish the leaner choices among these foods. The advisory panel of experts made sure the formula recognizes the natural differences these foods have. The FDA makes a similar distinction in its evaluations.
Q. Where did Sweetbay get the information that was evaluated for each item?
A. The system uses the same information that is easily accessible to you – the Nutrition Facts label and the ingredients list, which are both found right on the food package. For foods that are not packaged, such as fruits, vegetables, meats and deli items, the data come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Nutrient Database.
Q. How many foods were evaluated?
A. More than 65,000 have been scored to date.
Q. How many products in the store have received Stars?
A. Approximately 23% of the 65,000 analyzed food products have one or more Stars.
Q. How many foods in each section of the store get Stars?
A. The percentages of foods with Stars, by store section, are as follows:
- 100% of fresh fruits & vegetables
- 54% of cereals
- 51% of seafood
- 23% of dairy
- 22% of meat
- 8% of bakery
- 7% of soups
Stars, No Stars
Q. Why are some foods not rated?A. Bottled waters and other items with less than 5 calories per manufacturer’s serving, for example, are not rated. Baby foods are not rated because, like the federal 2005 Dietary Guidelines, this system is for the general healthy population aged two years and older. Children younger than two have different dietary needs.
Q: Do you publish a list of all the products with Guiding Stars?
A. The Sweetbay Guiding Stars program was designed to be an in-store navigation program. For various reasons, we have made a decision to refrain from creating and posting a list of products with star ratings. With approximately 6,000 of the items we carry earning stars, the data is too large to share efficiently through print, email, or an on-line list. New products are added and existing products are reformulated, causing the list to continuously change. Additionally, we also do not carry all products in all stores, which could be frustrating and confusing to our customers.
Q. Is there a difference between organic and other foods. Organic foods are healthier, right?
A. Guiding Stars analyzes nutrient data solely from the FDA’s Nutrition Facts label and the USDA’s nutrient data base. Neither of these sources recognizes any nutritional differences between foods that are conventionally, naturally and/or organically grown. Similarly, the Guiding Stars system makes no such distinction.
Q. Do foods with the American Heart Association’s (AHA) “Heart Check” symbol and other “seals of approval” get Stars?
A. The AHA Heart Check and brand-specific programs are based on serving sizes and different criteria, so the results are sometimes different. Thus, there is no direct correlation between Guiding Stars and other systems of nutritional evaluation.
