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Guiding Stars® basics
What is Guiding Stars and how does it help me when I shop?
Guiding Stars is the first-ever, storewide nutrition navigation system. It offers busy shoppers an at-a-glance tool to help find foods with greater nutrition for the calories.
Why was Guiding Stars developed?
Shoppers told us they wanted to live healthier lifestyles, but were confused by all of the information currently available. Guiding Stars is a simple, easy-to-understand tool for making choices as you shop.
What makes Guiding Stars a unique program?
This nutrition navigation system:
- Provides the first-ever, storewide navigation system
- Evaluates all edible items - all brands - according to their nutritional value
- Includes fresh items such as produce, meat, seafood and deli (not just packaged foods)
Does a Guiding Stars rating for a product mean I don't need to read the Nutrition Facts label anymore?
Guiding Stars helps you to easily locate products with the greatest nutritional density. Shoppers are encouraged to use Guiding Stars with the nutrition facts panel and ingredient lists to help you select the best product for your family.
Where will I find the stars?
Look for the Guiding Stars on the unit price tags on the shelf, produce signs, meat, poultry and seafood case signs, and on scale labels.
Who developed the system?
This proprietary system was developed by PhD nutrition scientists from Dartmouth Medical School and the University of North Carolina's School of Public Health, as well as the advisory panel, with nutrition and medical experts from Harvard, Tufts, University of California Davis and the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine.
Are the advisors on your panel paid by the Guiding Stars Licensing Company?
The advisory panel members are paid as consultants for their expertise in nutrition and public health.
Has Guiding Stars been tested with shoppers?
Yes, we tested the program before it's initial launch both in focus groups and quantitatively in surveys (more than 3,300 shoppers). Of those surveyed, 84 percent said they would use this system fairly often or very often. Since then, Guiding Stars has been used by thousands of shoppers for nearly two years, who tell us how helpful the program has been in helping them make nutritious choices.
Studying the stars - how it works
How does a product get a star?
Guiding Stars uses a proprietary rating formula (patent pending) to credit a food's score for the presence of vitamins, minerals, fiber and/or whole grains and debit a food's score for the presence of trans and/or saturated fats, cholesterol, added sugars, and added sodium. The resulting score determines whether the item receives 1, 2, 3 or no stars.
What is the difference between 1-, 2- and 3-starred foods?
The system is a "good, better, best" ranking. Compared with a 2-star food, for example, a 3-star food has more vitamins, minerals and/or whole grains and less trans fats, saturated fats, cholesterol, added sugars and/or added sodium.
Are all starred foods within each rating level (e.g., all 3-star foods) equally nutritious across the store?
Not necessarily. Every food group has a unique combination of attributes. A healthy diet includes a variety of foods across categories. You may notice that some categories have more choices with stars than others. Some food categories may have few or no foods with stars because these foods do not meet the criteria. As you go through each aisle of the store, the Guiding Stars system can help you identify more nutritious options within that section. For example, among nutrient-rich choices, when shopping for:
- Cereals: Cereals with less added sugars and more whole grains are likely to have stars
- Meats, Seafood, Poultry and Dairy: You're likely to see stars for foods with less saturated fat and cholesterol
- Soups: Soups with less added sodium and more vitamins & minerals receive stars
- Breads: Guiding Stars indicate bread products with less trans fat and added sugars, and more whole grains
If a food does not have a star, does that mean I should not buy that product?
No. Many foods do not get Guiding Stars, either because they do not meet the nutritional criteria for a star or because they haven't been rated. Of course you can still enjoy foods without stars - just be sure to balance those foods with more nutritious foods and a healthy, active lifestyle.
Some products look the same to me, but only a few get stars. Why?
Just one element, such as added sugar or added sodium, can make a big difference in categories like yogurts, cereals and soups.
Are the Guiding Stars criteria the same for all foods in the store?
Meats, poultry, seafood, dairy and nuts are naturally higher in saturated fats and - with the exception of nuts - naturally higher in cholesterol. And, they do not have fiber (only animal products have cholesterol). The formula recognizes these natural differences.
Why are meat, poultry, seafood, dairy and nuts treated differently?
If we used the same measurement for these categories, few - if any - items would receive Guiding Stars. Then you would not be able to distinguish the leaner choices among these foods. The advisory panel of experts made sure the formula recognizes the natural differences these foods have. The FDA makes a similar distinction in its evaluations.
Where does the information that is evaluated for each item come from?
The system uses the same information that is easily accessible to you - the Nutrition Facts label and the ingredients list, which are both found right on the food package. For foods that are not packaged, such as fruits, vegetables, meats and deli items, the data come from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Nutrient Database.
How many foods were evaluated?
More than 45,000 have been scored to date.
How many products in the store have received stars?
Approximately 28% of the analyzed food products have one or more stars.
How many foods in each section of the store get Guiding Stars?
The percentages of foods with stars, by store section, are as estimated:
- 100% of produce
- 51% of cereals
- 41% of seafood
- 22% of dairy
- 21% of meat
- 7% of soups
- 7% of bakery
Stars, no stars
Why are some foods not rated?
Bottled waters and other items with less than 5 calories per manufacturer's serving, for example, are not rated.
Do you publish a list of all the products with Guiding Stars?
The Guiding Stars program was designed to be an in-store navigation program. For various reasons, we have made a decision to refrain from creating and posting a list of products with star ratings. With thousands of items earning stars, the data is too large to share efficiently through print, email, or an online list. New products are added and existing products are reformulated, causing the list to continuously change.
Is there a difference between organic and other foods? Organic foods are healthier, right?
Guiding Stars analyzes nutrient data solely from the FDA's Nutrition Facts label and the USDA's nutrient database. Neither of these sources recognizes any nutritional differences between foods that are conventionally, naturally and/or organically grown. Similarly, the Guiding Stars system makes no such distinction.
Do foods with the American Heart Association's (AHA) "Heart Check" symbol and other "seals of approval" get stars?
The AHA Heart Check and brand-specific programs are based on serving sizes and different criteria, so the results are sometimes different. Thus, there is no direct correlation between Guiding Stars and other systems of nutritional evaluation.
Fats & Oils
Why are fats & oils rated differently than the other foods in the store?
The model used to evaluate general foods and beverages would not differentiate the fats in a meaningful way as it does not include attributes such as monounsaturated fatty acids, and omega 3 fatty acids which distinguish the healthiest fats. It is recommended that intake be between 20% and 35% of total calories. Fats & oils are very calorie dense (typically about 100 calories per tablespoon) so only a few tablespoons a day is enough. Source USDA 2005 Dietary Guidelines.
What sources of data did you rely upon for evaluating the fats & oils items rated?
The USDA data base, the nutritional labels and ingredient lists and in some circumstances the food packaging.
I know that a combination of various types of fats & oils is best but how can Guiding Stars help me strike that balance?
A mix of starred oils that work well for various kinds of cooking will ensure a good balance is attained. For example olive oil or avocado oil for flavoring and canola for frying (higher smoke point).
Does the fats & oils model account give more positive credit for the less processed oils such as extra virgin olive oil and less credit for industrially processed oils that use solvents such as pomace olive oil?
No, the degree of processing is not taken into account.
Which products are included in the new ratings for Fats & Oils?
Oils (primarily found in the baking aisle) and spreads (found in our dairy cases) are now rated. Salad dressings and mayonnaise ratings have not changed.
Are there plans to rate the remaining unrated categories of edible items in the store?
With the addition of ratings for fats and oils all food categories providing a sufficiently dense source of nutrients are now rated. Guiding Stars ratings are based on a 100 calories. It measures an item's nutrient density, or nutrition per 100 calories to provide a fair way to evaluate different foods with different serving sizes.
Categories such as water, coffee and tea, and spices are not sufficiently dense with nutrients for the ratings to be applied in a helpful manner so they will not be rated. Of course water is necessary for life but there is nothing in the other items that has been shown to be either necessary or harmful so a guidance system is not really needed. Medically prescribed foods or dietary supplements are also not going to be rated. The stars are no replacement for working with your doctor.