Supervalu has become the latest US grocer to introduce its own labelling scheme to encourage consumers to buy healthier food.
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The company today (14 January) announced plans to affix colour-coded labels on shelf facings underneath products that meet selected nutritional criteria.
Under the initiative, dubbed nutrition iQ, Supervalu will place shelf tags beneath the product’s price, unit price and bar code.
The programme aims to “ help consumers make better-informed, better-for-you food choices right at the store shelf”, Supervalu said.
The scheme covers 11 nutrient claims for products in seven categories. For example, products high in fibre will be have be denoted with an orange tag. Products low in saturated fat will be given a red tag.
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By GlobalData“The nutrition iQ program is designed to provide consumers with a credible, easy-to-understand, at-a-glance approach to healthy eating using a common set of criteria to objectively evaluate all of the products within our stores — regardless of manufacturer, brand or price,” Supervalu chairman and CEO Jeff Noddle said.
Not all products will be included in the initiative, Supervalu said. Products that fail to meet the nutritional criteria behind the scheme, including confectionery and ice cream, will not be denoted by a coloured tag.
Supervalu’s programme, which will roll out in two stages across its 1,300 stores in the US, is the latest move from the country’s food manufacturers and retailers to encourage healthier eating.
Retailers Hannaford and Food Lion, both owned by Belgium’s Delhaize, use their own Guiding Stars scheme, which give products one, two or three stars on their price tags depending on whether they meet fixed nutritional guidelines.
Later this year, a nationwide programme backed by the likes of General Mills, Kraft Foods and Unilever, will also be rolled out.
The initiative, dubbed the Smart Choices Program, will measure products against a set of nutritional criteria, including limits on ingredients like saturated fat and salt, as well as the amount of “nutrients to encourage”, including calcium, potassium and fibre. Products that qualify will carry the Smart Choices symbol on packages, which will also carry information about the number of calories per serving and number of servings per container.
