A Better Bag of Groceries

Guest Post: Erin from Ohio

Friday, November 20, 2009 at 07:17 AM

In my role as the Mom Blogger for NuVal, I have had a chance to meet some amazing bloggers and mothers – sometimes virtually and sometimes in person.  Please meet Erin Wimmer, a working mother who lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband and daughter.  Erin shops at Meijer where NuVal scores are on the supermarket shelves.

Erin Wimmer

I have to say that I consider myself to be pretty nutrition savvy. I’ve spent years reading health books/magazines/websites, etc.  I read labels when grocery shopping – and know which ingredients to look for and those to avoid.  However, even the most knowledgeable person can learn more, so I’m always looking for tools and information to help improve my health.

I live in Cincinnati, Ohio – and spend every Sunday afternoon planning meals and grocery shopping for my family.  I shop at my local Meijer store, which features the NuVal Nutritional Scoring System.  I remember when Meijer rolled out the program – they had ads throughout the store and employees handing out NuVal brochures.  I clearly remember reading the brochure as I stood in the deli line, and thinking it was a very cool system.  That was awhile ago (last spring?) and since then I have barely thought about or paid attention to the scores while shopping.  

That changed about 2 months ago, starting with Tina’s post on Carrots ‘N’ Cake titled “How Does My Breakfast Score?”.  It refreshed my memory that my local Meijer uses NuVal scores throughout the store.  Are you wondering how I forgot this?  It is because after the initial launch, I believe Meijer could have done a better job of promoting/advertising NuVal.  I’m sure a lot of customers don’t even know what it means when they see the scores on shelf tags.  The next time I shopped after reading Tina’s post, I paid attention to the scores I spotted – and I haven’t stopped since. 

NuVal’s tagline is “Nutrition Made Easy” – and that could not be more true.  I love that the scoring system is so simple and easy to understand. The scores range on a scale of 1-100. The higher the score, the higher the nutrition.  The scores are located right on the shelf tags – in the same location as the price.  I have found that the NuVal scores make it easy for me to make smart decisions. And I love that it’s a quick and easy to way to teach my daughter about making better choices.  For instance, this week alone I used NuVal scores to help make the following decisions:

• My daughter wanted me to buy her some Pepperidge Farm Grahams as a treat. The NuVal score was 5.  I noticed the Goldfish crackers had a score of 28.  Even though I consider both items treats, it was nice to be able to quickly show my daughter that the crackers were a better choice.
• I stopped buying Instant Oatmeal packets a few years ago, as I knew the sugar content was too high (Quaker Instant Oatmeal packets have a score of 16-24, depending on the flavor). Instead I buy big canisters of Old Fashioned Oats (score: 62). This week I noticed that Kashi Instant Oatmeal packets have a score of 46. Not bad for mornings when you need to eat breakfast at your desk.
• My husband likes to make homemade pasta sauce, using canned tomatoes. He doesn’t really care which type of tomatoes I get, as long as I get a variety (crushed, whole, diced, etc.).  This week I noticed the NuVal scores varied greatly among different types/brands of tomatoes.  The scores helped me pick the healthiest options.

As you can see, NuVal scores can help everyone! And if they can help someone who already knows a lot about nutrition, imagine how the system can help people who do not know how to eat healthy. Here’s a few quick examples of how NuVal can help the average consumer:

• Everyone knows chips aren’t healthy, but it’s a huge wake-up call when you see the score is 4.  This definitely helps me be able to pass them up!
• Barilla Spaghetti has a score of 61, while Barilla Plus Pasta has a score of 91. There really isn’t a taste difference, but you definitely get more nutrients by trading up.
• Most Americans do not drink skim milk (score: 91). They typically drink Whole (score: 52) or 2% (score: 55). These scores could encourage consumers to grab the better choice.

I will continue to use the NuVal scores, and only hope that my grocery store decides to start promoting it more so that everyone will use it!

Posted by: Melissa 1 comment

Posted in: Guest Bloggers, Meijer

Tags: Guest Post