Exclusive nutritional rating program, Guiding
Stars®, available in Ontario Loblaws®
stores
BRAMPTON, ON,
Aug. 3, 2012 /CNW/ - (TSX: L)
- Starting August 10, customers at
Loblaws® stores in Ontario will have a faster, easier way to make
healthier food choices when shopping for groceries for their
family. Loblaw Companies Limited (Loblaw) is the first
Canadian grocery retailer to launch Guiding
Stars®, an objective, nutrition navigation program,
providing at-a-glance nutritional ratings for foods found in every
store aisle.
The Guiding Stars® program is designed to
complement existing nutritional data such as the nutrition facts
table, on-package product labels, and Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating.
The program scores food based on nutrient density using an
objective scientific algorithm grounded in the most current dietary
guidelines and recommendations of national regulatory and health
organizations.
Products are scored on a credit and debit system where foods
acquire stars for containing more vitamins, minerals, dietary
fibre, whole grains, and omega-3 fats and are debited for
containing saturated fat, trans fat, added sodium, or added sugars.
Products can earn up to three stars and these ratings are displayed
on easily identifiable shelf tags for products in store. Foods with
fewer than five calories per serving like bottled water, tea, and
spices, are not rated. If a food has been rated and has no stars,
it did not meet the criteria for a Guiding Star.
"Guiding Stars has strength in its consumer-friendly
translation of current dietary recommendations that are based on
science," said Alison Duncan,
professor, Human Health and Nutritional Sciences at the
University of Guelph and a member of
the scientific advisory panel for Guiding Stars®.
"This means that consumers can rely on the Guiding Stars
program to provide them with quick and accurate guidance about the
nutritional quality of the food choices they are making."
A national online poll conducted by Vision Critical for Loblaw
revealed that almost seven out of ten (67%) Canadians are making
healthier food choices, but that confusion about food labels is a
barrier for many Canadians (60%) in achieving a healthier diet*.
Recent in-store research from the first phase of Guiding
Stars® in the Greater
Toronto Area showed that eight in ten customers liked the
program, considering it clear and easy to use and offering helpful
information**.
"One in three Canadians shop at our stores each week and we work
really hard to ensure we meet their priorities, including helping
them make informed decisions about healthier food," said
Michael Lovsin, senior vice
president, Health and Wellness, Loblaw Companies Limited, and a
member of the Ontario Healthy Kids Panel. "Offering in-store
dietitians and programs like Guiding Stars are ways that
Loblaw is working to empower our customers to make healthier
choices."
A registered dietitian is a regulated health professional who
can help make sense of food and nutrition. While 50 Loblaw banner
stores currently offer in-store dietitians year round, a special
Guiding Stars® Dietitian Day will take place at
select Loblaws® stores in Ontario on Saturday
August 11 from 10 a.m. to 2
p.m. Customers are invited to visit the store on this day to
receive hands-on guidance from dietitians about the Guiding
Stars® program, discover great tasting healthier
food options and simple ways to prepare them.
Loblaw stores offer a number of healthier food options through
the PC® Blue Menu® brand. The
newly-designed packaging of PC® Blue
Menu® products makes it easy to quickly identify
nutritional benefits with plus (+) and minus (-) symbols
identifying the nutritional attributes of each product. In addition
to the broad range of products available, Loblaw banner stores
offer support for Canadians in their journeys towards healthier
lifestyles with initiatives like the in-store dietitians program,
President's Choice® Cooking School classes, and
partnerships with the Canadian Diabetes Association and
Hypertension Canada. For more information about the Guiding
Stars® program, please visit
www.guidingstars.ca.
About Loblaw Companies Limited TSX: L
Loblaw Companies Limited, a subsidiary of George Weston Limited, is
Canada's largest food retailer and
a leading provider of drugstore, general merchandise and financial
products and services. Loblaw is one of the largest private sector
employers in Canada. With more
than 1,000 corporate and franchised stores from coast to coast,
Loblaw and its franchisees employ more than 135,000 full-time and
part-time employees. Through its portfolio of store formats, Loblaw
is committed to providing Canadians with a wide, growing and
successful range of products and services to meet the everyday
household demands of Canadian consumers. Loblaw is known for the
quality, innovation and value of its food offering. It offers
Canada's strongest control
(private) label program, including the unique President's
Choice®, no name® and
Joe Fresh® brands.
In addition, the Company makes available to consumers
President's Choice Financial® services and offers
the PC® points loyalty program.
About the surveys
*Vision Critical conducted an online survey on February 1, 2012 among 1,004 randomly selected
Canadian adults who are Angus Reid
forum panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling
variability—is +/- 3.1%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been
statistically weighted according to the most current education,
age, gender and region Census data to ensure a sample
representative of the entire adult population of Canada. Discrepancies in or between totals are
due to rounding.
**Vision Critical conducted an in-store survey on
July 5 and between July 11 and 13, 2012 among 501 Canadian
Loblaws® shoppers at two stores in the Greater Toronto Area.
SOURCE Loblaw Companies Limited