NuVal To The Rescue

About a month ago, Tina from Carrots ‘N’ Cake asked me to write a post about what I thought of NuVal, a nutritional scoring system. Since I am studying journalism, I decided to write a news story instead of an opinion piece.

I interviewed Tina and Price Chopper‘s Senior Nutritionist, Ellie Wilson, MS, RD, for the story. I also interviewed customers at Price Chopper.

My piece was edited by two of my journalism instructors. Photos were taken at an Albany County, NY Price Chopper.

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NuVal to the Rescue

Rebecca Ludwig

Thanks to NuVal, a nutritional scoring system, consumers shopping at the Northeast grocery chain Price Chopper are now able to make informed nutritional decisions about what products end up in their shopping carts.

Price Chopper started using NuVal scores in its stores in September 2008. It’s the first supermarket in the country to use the NuVal scoring system.

NuVal Sign in the Produce Section of Price Chopper

Health, nutrition, and medical communities are “applauding NuVal as something that can help people make small changes that can stick to” says Senior Nutritionist for Price Chopper, Ellie Wilson, MS, RD. “We have received terrific positive feedback on NuVal – Moms in particular really like NuVal, as it shortens their shopping time, completely changes their arguments about food products with their children, and helps them be confident they are really making the best choices for their families.”

The FDA permits companies to print claims such as “Low Fat,” and “Low Sodium” on the front of their product’s packaging.  Claims such as “Good Source of Fiber” or “Good Source of Vitamin C” can be misleading to the consumer because they only focus on one portion of the product’s nutritional information.

“NuVal is a great system for helping people make better choices about the foods they buy. The system is based on a scientific algorithm, so it focuses on the whole picture of the foods we eat– not just what has the fewest calories and grams of fat,” says Tina Haupert, a Social Media Consultant for NuVal.

NuVal scores food on a scale of 1 to 100; the higher the score, the higher the nutritional value. According to the NuVal Web site, “NuVal Score takes into account more than just the nutrition fact panel.  It considers 30-plus nutrients and nutrition factors – the good (protein, calcium, and vitamins) and the not-so-good (sugar, sodium, cholesterol).  And then it boils it down into a simple, easy-to-use number; a number you can trust to make better decisions about nutrition in just a few seconds.”

A page on the NuVal Web site explains the science behind NuVal scoring. The scores are based on the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (QNQI), “a patent-pending algorithm for measuring the nutritional quality of foods and beverages based on the influence they have on overall dietary goals.”

This system focuses on more than 30 different nutrients and nutrition factors and breaks them into numerator nutrients and denominator nutrients. Nutrients such as fiber, Vitamin A, Zinc, Iron, and Calcium fall into the numerator category which increases the NuVal score for the item.

Components such as saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium end up in the denominator category and lower the overall NuVal score. “The quality of macronutrients is another key factor in the overall equation. Fat quality, protein quality, and glycemic load (a measure of carbohydrate quality) are among the “universal adjustors” that can move a NuVal Score higher or lower,” the summary on the page explains.

NuVal’s site advertises that all NuVal scores will be available on the site soon. For now, consumers can find some scores on the site. The Web site offers examples of scores for a limited number of foods broken into categories such as vegetables, cold cereal, and crackers. For instance, fresh broccoli florets earn a perfect score, while Green Giant Green Bean Casserole scores a 23. Kashi TLC Tasty Little Chewy Oatmeal Cookies score a 40 and seem like a great choice compared to Nabisco Nilla Wafers which score an 8.

In Price Chopper, NuVal scores are listed on the price tags for the products. Just by browsing the store, shoppers can see that Amy’s Organic Chili scores a 63 and King Arthur Premium 100% Whole Wheat Flour earns a 91 on the NuVal scale.

Erin, a Rensslaer County, NY resident, finds the NuVal system helpful. “When I’m here, I pick the higher number over the lower.”

Likewise, when the NuVal scores were pointed out to Pat and Tanya, both Albany County, NY residents, they agreed that they will choose higher scores in the future.

NuVal’s Haupert says that she has made more informed choices since working with NuVal. When she found out that non-fat milk scores a 91, Haupert added it back into her diet after swearing it off for years. She has stopped buying Kashi Strawberry Field Cereal after learning that it only rates an 11 which is one point higher than Captain Crunch. “It just goes to show you that not all ‘health’ foods are nutritious,” Haupert says.

Thanks to NuVal, shoppers can now see through misleading nutritional claims and distinguish the ‘health foods’ from the not so healthy ones.

Note: If you would like NuVal to start posting scores in your supermarket, visit NuVal’s Suggest a Store Page.

Tina Haupert’s blog for NuVal is called Trading Up Downtown.   She is also the author of the blog Carrots ‘N’ Cake.