Guiding Stars, the world’s first store-wide nutrition navigation system, today announces minor revisions to their evidence-based proprietary algorithm. The Guiding Stars algorithm is regularly reviewed by the Guiding Stars Scientific Advisory Panel and amended as needed, based on changes in dietary guidelines, nutrition policy and/or new scientific evidence that comes to light. The Scientific Advisory Panel reviewed the Guiding Stars algorithm and amended it to include the method of calculating debits for foods that are sweetened only with sugar alcohols. The minor change also factors in new key words for obscure variations of ingredients classified as added sugars or whole grains.
The minor algorithm adjustment will affect the star ratings of less than one-tenth of one percent of all items within the database. The result is that a small number of foods experienced a decline in star ratings and a small number of products gained star ratings. Shelf tags currently reflect the revised star ratings in stores.
The Guiding Stars algorithm is grounded in the most current dietary guidelines and recommendations of leading national and international health organizations, such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Health & Human Services, the National Academy of Sciences and the World Health Organization. The Guiding Stars system evaluates all edible products – regardless of price, brand or manufacturer – and assigns each item zero to three stars based on its nutritional value.
The Guiding Stars system is based on an extensive, proprietary database that rates and indexes more than 90,000 edible products including not only packaged foods but also fresh foods, produce and prepared meals.
About Guiding Stars Licensing Co.
Since 2006, Guiding Stars has been leading the way in helping consumers make nutritious food choices. The Guiding Stars nutrition guidance program is a simple, easy-to-understand tool for making good nutrition choices and is designed to make a positive and lasting impact on public health. Guiding Stars is currently in more than 1,600 supermarkets including Food Lion, Hannaford, Bloom, Sweetbay, Homeland, and Kings Super Market. Guiding Stars has also expanded into public schools, colleges and hospitals and appears on the Shopper mobile iPhone application. Additional information can be found at staging.guidingstars.com.
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