Looking for great taste that’s high in nutrition? Guiding Stars Expert Chef helps you bring Guiding Stars into your kitchen.

Guiding Stars Expert Chef Erin Dow

I recently sat down with Erin to find out a little more about her approach. Here is Part One of my interview with our Guiding Stars Expert Chef.

Jaica Kinsman: How did you get into cooking?

Erin Dow: I was a server at a restaurant in Portland, ME during college. The restaurant started picking up backstage catering jobs for rock concerts at several local venues and I was brought along to help. Because of the intense working environment and demanding clientele, it was trial by fire, and I learned quickly. I did that job for about 6 years before I started my own catering company on the side, focusing more on the high-end cocktail parties, weddings, etc. I currently do both.

JK: What is your earliest memory of cooking?

E: I remember improvising what turned out to be buttercream frosting when I was about 10 years old. At the time, I was into baking, and we didn’t have a can of store-bought frosting—an emergency, as far as I was concerned. So I made frosting out of butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla, and I just thought I was the most innovative person in the world.

JK: What made you want to become a chef?

E: It was just a job at first, but it didn’t take long for it to become a passion. Shortly after I started cooking professionally I realized I was spending an awful lot of time and energy cooking at home, too. In fact, when I had my first child and was staying at home with him, I cooked a full meal every night and experimented with tons of new recipes and techniques; it was my hobby. Eventually, I was able to apply those new skills to running my own business. The personal passion fuels the professional passion.

JK: Describe your best cooking moment as a chef.

E: Hands down, it was my recent opportunity to cook dinner for Anthony Bourdain. I chose the dishes, prepared them in front of him, and he chose to eat them with me in the kitchen instead of in his private room. That choice made me feel like I had made the big time-that my chef idol was hanging out with my chef self.

JK: You’re a mother, how do you get your own kids excited about eating healthy foods?

E: As cliché as it is, getting kids involved with shopping choices and meal preparation really does increase their interest in healthy foods. My kids know that if the cereal doesn’t have at least two Guiding Stars, they may as well not even ask. They also know that if they make better choices overall, the chance of a special treat coming home is much improved. They feel empowered because the choice lies in their court. My kids are obsessed with my iPod, and I use that to my full advantage when I’m shopping as well: they run the Shopper app and I drive the cart.

Similarly, my 9-year-old has taken an interest in cooking, and even though he hates onions, for example, when it’s “his” spaghetti sauce and they go in, somehow they don’t bother him. He’s learning that some things are important for an overall taste profile even if they’re singularly disliked. So now I’m working with him on learning that you can’t taste the shredded squash or other healthy things I’ve been sneaking into their food for years.

JK: What do you find most challenging about cooking nutritious meals?

E: Very few people have the goal of simply “not being hungry” at the end of a meal; rather, people want to feel like they’ve eaten something enjoyable. Experimentation is really the only way we can find ingredient combinations that achieve that goal for us, and what I’m trying to do as Guiding Stars Expert Chef is take the guesswork out of the process. I personally am not satisfied by the “nuts and sticks” version of healthy eating and I try to develop recipes that assure good and balanced nutrition with a heavy dose of satisfaction.

JK: How did you hear about Guiding Stars?

E: I’ve used the Guiding Stars program to shop for my family since its inception at the Hannaford Supermarket chain in 2006.

Get started with the Expert Chef:

• Whole Food: The New Convenience Food
• Taste experience that doesn’t result in a new pant size experience
• Cooking for Anthony Bourdain

Jaica Kinsman is a Web Community Specialist at Guiding Stars Licensing Company. She is responsible for Internet marketing, community engagement and whatever else is cool and happening on the Interwebs. She designed the website and serves as editor for the Guiding Stars Blog. Jaica is also one of the founders of Social Media FTW.

I was a late bloomer on liking avocados. It really only happened in the last few years. They are so delicious, you can do so much with them, they are available all year and they are good for you!

Avocados are nutrient dense fruits (yes, Avocados are a fruit). They are a rich source of vitamin E and loaded with nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Avocados are also attributed to helping maintain a healthy cholesterol level, help in good eye health, may lower the risk of breast cancer and more. I am not a doctor, but Avocados are frequently featured in blogs and magazines for their disease repelling super powers. Avocados also have “good fat” which helps your body process protein and helps your body stay healthy.

A one-ounce serving of fresh avocados has 0mg of cholesterol and 0mg of sodium and is only 50 calories. A serving of avocado has the same calories as a serving of other fruits like cantaloupe and pineapple.

Besides all the health benefits, avocados added to meals creates a delicious complexity. The creamy taste of avocado makes it a great substitute for cheese on a sandwich!

Below is one of my favorite recipes to make and have around the house, an avocado Pico de Gallo. This Pico is great to have over a steak, in a wrap with some diced chicken, with some low-fat cheese for a quesadilla and so much more. I use all fresh ingredients and store in an air-tight container and it lasts for 4-5 days. I hope you like it as much as we do at my house.

3 Stars

Nutrition Facts for Avocado Pico de Gallo - Click to Enlarge

Avocado Pico de Gallo

Combine in a bowl and gently stir the following ingredients:

• 1 cup diced seeded plum tomato
• ¼ cup diced onion
• 1 tablespoon diced seeded jalapeno
• 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• ¾ cup diced avocado (1 medium avocado)
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Amanda O’Brien is originally from Peaks Island, Maine and currently works at Hall Web Services managing their inbound marketing team. She is a self proclaimed workaholic who tries to maintain a busy lifestyle. She is an amateur yogi and runner.

Rating System Helps Students, Staff Make More Nutritious Food Choices

Guiding Stars, the world’s first store-wide nutrition navigation system – now available in more than 1,500 grocery stores – announces a partnership with the schools of Regional School Unit (RSU) #14 Windham Raymond School District in Maine, by launching the good-better-best food rating system in the schools. This partnership continues the district’s history of making student and staff wellness a top priority. Guiding Stars has been implemented at Windham High School and will extend to the rest of the district’s schools in subsequent years.

Guiding Stars will rate prepared meals, snacks, salad bar and grab-and-go items with zero to three stars based on its nutritional value. One star means good nutritional value; two stars, better nutritional value; and three stars, the best nutritional value. This system provides a simple, at-a-glance tool to allow students to quickly identify and choose foods that offer the most nutrition for the calories.

“We are thrilled to be part of Windham Raymond School District’s ongoing commitment to providing their students and staff with a healthy and nutritious educational environment,” said Jim McBride, director of information and systems at Guiding Stars Licensing Company. “Guiding Stars will not only make it easier to identify healthy options, but will make nutritious choices simple, practical and fun.”

Guiding Stars features a proprietary algorithm that is grounded in evidence-based science and utilizes the most current guidelines and recommendations of leading national and international health organizations, such as the FDA, USDA and World Health Organization. The system credits all edible foods based on the presence of vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and whole grains, and debits for the presence of trans fat, saturated fats, cholesterol, added sugars and added sodium.

The Guiding Stars program is now on shelf tags and signage in grocery stores throughout the Northeast, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic and Florida, and the partnership with Windham Raymond School District joins other school partnerships including the first nutrition rating system in a public school, MSAD 75 in Topsham, Maine, as well as Bates College in Lewiston, Maine and the University of New Hampshire in Durham, New Hampshire.

Windham Raymond School District has been a pioneer in creating an environment that makes wellness a priority by employing a School Health Coordinator, maintaining an active Wellness Team, as well as supporting a variety of health and wellness endeavors both inside and outside of the classroom that have been initiated by district staff.

“Part of our responsibility as educators is teaching students about health and wellness while also helping them to be aware of the impact that daily food choices can make,” said Stephanie Joyce, MS, RD, school health coordinator of Windham Raymond School District. “There is a link between nutrition and learning, and Guiding Stars was a natural fit for our schools in order to make it easier for our students and staff to make healthy-eating a part of their lifestyle.”

Another benefit of the partnership will be the consistency of seeing Guiding Stars both in schools and their local grocery stores. Students and their families can talk about nutritious food choices based on information that is comprehensive, accurate, and easy-to-use and understand.

The opportunity of this partnership was made possible through the district’s award of a nearly $1 million federal grant. Windham Raymond School District is one of 73 public schools and community organizations to be awarded the U.S. Department of Education Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) Grant. Additionally, the district will use these funds to create various Centers of Wellness throughout district schools.

About Guiding Stars Licensing Co.

Since 2006, Guiding Stars has been leading the way in helping consumers make nutritious choices. The Guiding Stars program is a simple, easy-to-understand tool for making good nutritional choices and is designed to make a positive and lasting impact on public health. Guiding Stars is currently in more than 1,500 supermarkets including Food Lion, Hannaford, Bloom and Sweetbay. Kings Super Markets will launch Guiding Stars in 2010. Guiding Stars has also launched the first nutrition rating system in a public school in Topsham, Maine, the dining halls and convenience stores of Bates College and the University of New Hampshire, and on the Shopper mobile iPhone application.

About RSU #14 Windham Raymond School District

The RSU #14 Windham Raymond School District is located in the western lakes region of Southern Maine serving both the towns of Windham and Raymond. With a student population of approximately 3,400 the district is comprised of two elementary schools (Raymond Elementary School, Windham Primary School), 3 middle schools (Manchester School, Jordan Small Middle School, Windham Middle School), one high school (Windham High School), and an alternative education program (REAL School). The mission statement of the RSU #14 School Board is to “create an educational environment that promotes positive and successful learning experiences, and enables all members of the school community to develop their unique potential.”

I am a sucker for dips. Nothing satisfies me more than something creamy and piquant spread on something texturally satisfying. A truly fundamental exercise in Cooking 101, dips and spreads teach us the value of combining simply prepared and minimally processed ingredients into exciting new taste experiences. Unfortunately, I’ve also learned over the years that when the go-to dip starts with cream cheese or sour cream, the new taste experience can result in a new pant size experience as well.

Hummus is a delicious and nutritious dip, but its ubiquity has made it a tad boring for me lately. So looking to my pantry and finding a few cans of black beans kicking around, I naturally started toying with a recipe for a Mexican-style dip: something creamy, crunchy, tangy, and most of all, healthy. The end result is a dip that is very guacamole-like. I guarantee if you like a good lime-y guac, you’ll love this. My goal with this recipe was to create something that I would feel proud to eat for a meal, and frankly, used as a quesadilla filling or as a stuffing for peppers in a raw vegan dish, I think it works. The more I toyed around with this spread, the more ideas I had for its use.

The key to this recipe is the balance of the flavor components within it. Carrots and bell pepper add vitamins and a sweetness that offsets the slightly bitter taste of the black beans. Avocado adds a creamy mouth-feel. The lime juice compensates for the lower sodium content, tricking your brain into thinking the dip is saltier than it is. The green onion, tomatoes, and cilantro brighten the dull (but creamy and super-nutritious) nature of the black beans. The secret ingredient in this recipe, believe it or not, is one measly teaspoon of honey, which brings everything together perfectly. You may try to convince yourself you don’t need to bother with it, but try it before and after, and you’ll be a believer, too!

2 Stars

Garlic-Lime Black Bean and Avocado Spread

Great enjoyed as a dip with veggie strips and baked chips. Add as many extra veggies as you wish: good candidates include jalapenos, blanched and cooled corn, and whole cooked black beans.

Try mixing a few spoonfuls of this spread with diced grilled or poached chicken on a bed of lettuce or in a wrap with some brown rice and sliced tomato.

Makes approx. 3 cups, or (12) ¼ c servings

Ingredients

• 1 (19-oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• ½ cup finely grated carrot
• 1 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
• 1 t. minced garlic
• 1/3 c fresh-squeezed lime juice, approx. 3 limes
• 1 c diced fresh Roma tomatoes, seeds removed
• ½ c orange or yellow bell pepper, diced
• ¼ c finely chopped green onions
• 2T finely chopped fresh cilantro
• 1t. honey
• ¼ t. sea salt
• Black pepper and Tabasco, to taste

Directions

Place beans, carrots, avocado, garlic, and lime juice in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Combine the pureed mixture and remaining ingredients in a medium bowl stirring until well blended. Let stand at least 30 minutes before serving.

Guiding Stars Expert Chef Erin Dow balances three food worlds. As a mother of three young children, she’s fighting the battle every parent faces: how to keep her kids interested in the foods that keep them healthy. As the chef and owner of her catering company Eatswell Farm, she utilizes original recipes and techniques–focused on enhancing the enjoyment of locally-sourced ingredients–to best interpret the client’s vision. And as Consulting Executive Chef for Falmouth-based Professional Catering Services, a business specializing in production and backstage catering for concerts, she develops and executes menus that accommodate the strict nutritional requirements of the music industry elite. Erin and her family raise their own chicken for meat and eggs, have dabbled in pastured Narragansett turkeys, and have a very weedy but very large and productive garden.

In case you missed last night’s news magazine show “207,” Guiding Stars was included among the best fitness websites. Tech guru Rich Brooks highlights Guiding Stars ease of use, scientific base, newly launched Expert Chef Erin Dow and Shopper iPhone app.

Trouble viewing the video? Watch the segment on the 207 Web site. Guiding Stars starts at 3:56.

Rich Brooks: The Best Fitness Websites

• American Council on Fitness’s Get Fit site
• Let’s Move!
• FitDay
• Diddit’s Fitness & Health
• Cooking Light
• Guiding Stars

207 is a news magazine show produced by WCSH6 the NBC station in Portland, Maine. 207 is hosted by Rob Caldwell and Kathleen Shannon and runs Monday through Friday at 7pm and Saturdays at 7:30pm.

I don’t know about you, but the holidays were killer for me in terms of my fitness level. I started out keeping with my regular exercise routine while having a cookie here and there. Gradually, the holiday treats took over and the refined sugars made me lethargic and not wanting to exercise. Now that the holiday and Super Bowl treats are gone, it is time for me to get back into the groove by exercising daily and eating right. It all seems so logical so why is it easier said than done?

Well, it could be because it is the dead of winter in New England and the sub-degree temperatures make me want to hide under my comforter. However, I have to remember the pros; being able to fit into my clothes and staying healthy for my little ones, my husband and most importantly myself.

I’ve always followed Lance Armstrong on Twitter where he tweets about his daily training and personal insights. Seeing his tweets pop up in my stream keeps me motivated. After all, here is a man who was at death’s door with cancer, and then went on to win seven Tour De Frances and run the New York City marathon. I think I should be able to ride my spin bike for at least an hour while watching a movie.

Sarah Wallace works as a freelance writer specializing in social media writing services. She is a mother of two who enjoys quality time with her family and friends while trying to stay fit. Visit her website.

Let’s face it – weight loss happens when we have self control and discipline. Usually, that combination means a diet. Not necessarily. Here are 5 tricks so that you can eat what you want…in moderation, that is.

1. Ask yourself if you’re hungry. Often we’re tired, bored, or even thirsty when we shovel food in our mouths. So just ask yourself: am I really hungry?

2. Don’t eat after 7. You’ve probably heard this one before and, while the act of eating won’t cause you to gain unnecessary weight, it’s simply that by the time morning comes, you won’t be as hungry for breakfast. In short, eating after 7 or 8 at night gets your metabolism and eating schedule out of whack.

3. Watch your portions. This is the most important rule. It’s no secret that Americans are an incredibly overweight population and it’s no wonder why – the portions you get eating out could more often than not feed you for an entire day, let alone one meal. One of my favorite tricks is – put what you’re eating on a plate or in a bowl – don’t eat directly out of the pan/dish/bag. If you’re still hungry, go for seconds; but chances are you won’t be.

4. Eat plenty of fruits and veggies. Not only are they good for you, but they’ll fill you up, so you eat less of the more hearty food in your diet.

5. Snack, snack, snack! Technically, it’s better to eat about every three hours than three big meals. So instead of binging three times a day, be sure to grab a little something (a piece of fruit perhaps? ), so you don’t have to engorge yourself later.

What’s one of your rules for staying away from the newest fad diet?

Nicki Hicks is a fitness and nutrition enthusiast with a passion for all things healthy and organic. A web marketing specialist and search geek at flyte new media by day, Nicki works to increase her clients’ search engine visibility. By night, you might find Nicki coaching, practicing yoga, or pretending to be an artist. Nicki regularly contributes to the Guiding Stars blog.

Study highlights effect of Guiding Stars in influencing healthier supermarket food purchases

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Guiding Stars, the world’s first storewide nutrition navigation system, today announced that new research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows Guiding Stars had a positive influence on food purchasing decisions after the implementation of the zero-to-three star rating system and that these changes continue to be significant in achieving healthier food choices in the supermarket. Guiding Stars is a simple, at-a-glance tool that allows consumers to quickly identify and choose foods that offer the most nutrition for the calories. It was born from extensive customer research that clearly revealed a desire to live healthier lifestyles, but showed confusion about how to digest the volume and complexity of the nutrition-related information available to them in the media, in advertisements and on food packaging.

The study was conducted by a group of scientists led by Lisa Sutherland, Ph.D of Dartmouth College along with Leslie Fischer, Ph.D of the University of North Carolina and Lori Kaley of the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School, all Guiding Stars Scientific Advisory Panel members at the time the research was undertaken. The researchers examined the effects of Guiding Stars on consumer food and beverage choices in the study titled, “Guiding Stars: The effect of a nutrition navigation program on consumer purchases at the supermarket.”

“With increasing rates of chronic diseases and poor diet quality in the United States, we were pleased to find the Guiding Stars program was associated with significant positive changes in consumer purchasing behavior,” said Lisa Sutherland, lead author of the study. “The choices consumers make in the supermarket can have a direct effect on their health and wellness, and we found that after the Guiding Stars nutrition rating system was implemented, the overall purchasing of foods with stars, or those rated the most nutritious, significantly increased. With time as a considerable barrier for many Americans when shopping, we believe that the program makes it easier for consumers to quickly identify the more nutritious options in the supermarket.”

Guiding Stars rates all edible products in the store – regardless of price, brand, or manufacturer, and utilizes an evidence-based algorithm that is grounded in the most current dietary guidelines and recommendations of leading national and international health organizations, such as the US Food and Drug Administration, the US Department of Agriculture, the US Health & Human Services, the National Academy of Sciences, and the World Health Organization. The more nutritional value a food has, the more Guiding Stars it receives on a scale of zero to three. One Guiding Star indicates good nutritional value; two Guiding Stars, better nutritional value; three Guiding Stars, the best nutritional value.

The study authors utilized purchasing data from 2006 to 2008 obtained from Hannaford Supermarkets, which have 168 stores located in northern New England and New York. They examined the data before Guiding Stars was introduced and one and two years after it was implemented. In order to understand the program’s impact on specific grocery categories, ready-to-eat cereal was examined as a case study. Study findings revealed that the purchasing of star-rated cereals significantly increased at one-year and continued to increase in year-two. “Although we did not measure individual diet, the purchasing of low-sugar, high-fiber cereals increased greatly after program implementation. This finding is of particular importance to our understanding the potential impact of such programs on consumer diet,” Sutherland said.

“We are thrilled to see this very important research demonstrating the short- and long-term impact of Guiding Stars” said Betts FitzGerald, managing director of Guiding Stars Licensing Company. “The design of the Guiding Stars program provides a significant opportunity to impact not only the health of individuals, but public health as well.”

About Guiding Stars Licensing Co.

Since 2006, Guiding Stars has been leading the way in helping consumers make nutritious choices. The Guiding Stars program is a simple, easy-to-understand tool for making good nutritional choices and is designed to make a positive and lasting impact on public health. Guiding Stars is currently in more than 1,500 supermarkets including Food Lion, Hannaford, Bloom and Sweetbay. Kings Super Markets will launch Guiding Stars in 2010. Guiding Stars has also launched the first nutrition rating system in a public school in Topsham, Maine, the dining halls and convenience stores of Bates College and the University of New Hampshire, and on the Shopper mobile iPhone application.

I’m fairly certain we can all agree that focusing our menus on the most pure, unrefined, and natural foods possible makes good sense. We all agree—at least in theory–that fresh fruits and vegetables, lean fish and meats, legumes, and grains provide our bodies with the easiest access to the nutrients we need and allow us to avoid the preservatives, trans-fats, and other undesirable elements of convenience foods. Eaten in reasonable portions, these foods help us to naturally maintain a healthy weight because they’re inherently balanced in terms of fat, fiber, sugars, and salt, and they’re filling to boot.

But in a world full of people living busy lives and balancing grocery budgets, this preferable model is very often perceived as near impossible to embrace because: 1) processed foods are often cheaper than their healthy counterparts; 2) our unfamiliarity with exciting whole food options breeds boredom with the status quo and a suspicion of new possibilities; and 3) there exists an assumption that non-convenience foods are neither convenient to make nor delicious to eat.

Photo by Erin Dow - Click to enlarge

There exists a whole world of exciting, budget-friendly, and easy possibilities that I hope to highlight in my next few articles, and the recipe below highlights just how dynamic whole foods can be. Eschewed in favor of pasta or white rice, whole grains are very often overlooked as a convenient and neutral base for all sorts of interesting taste experiences. Quinoa, amaranth, millet, wheat berries, and barley are some of my favorites because they are texturally exciting, they’re low-cost, and they’re highly nutritious. When cooked, they can be combined when warm or cold with just about anything you like to create a main meal, a salad, or a side dish.

My wheat berry salad–adapted from Heidi Swanson’s recipe to accommodate the very specific dietary requirements of a catering client—balances the chewy texture of soft wheat berries with a bit of piquant feta cheese, healthy almonds, a very light citrus vinaigrette, and a ton of veggies.

If desired, this recipe can be served hot as a side dish. You can swap out the spinach, orange, and tomatoes for black beans, lime, and peppers for a Mexican flair. The recipe is infinitely adaptable, as are all whole food recipes; because, when the starting point is the purest and most natural permutation of food, your imagination is your only limitation.

3 Stars

Wheat Berry Salad with Spinach, Orange and Almond

3 Guiding Stars = best nutrition
Makes approximately (10) ½ c. servings

Click to enlarge

Ingredients

• 2 ½ c wheat berries
• 1t. Kosher salt
• ½ c. fresh orange juice
• 2T grated orange zest
• 1 ½ T fresh lemon juice
• 1T finely minced shallot
• 2T olive oil
• ½ c. slivered toasted almonds (or pine nuts)
• ¼ t. black pepper
• ¼ c. low fat feta cheese
• 3 cups organic baby spinach
• 1 ½ cups grape tomatoes, halved

Directions

In a large pan, combine the wheat berries, salt, and 8 cups of water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to medium, and briskly simmer for about 1 hour, or until the wheat berries are chewy but not starchy in the middle. (The only way to know they’re done is to bite one.) When done, drain berries and rinse with cold water.
For the dressing, combine the orange juice and zest, lemon juice, shallot, olive oil, and pepper in a small bowl, and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the cooled wheat berries, almonds, feta, spinach, tomatoes, and the vinaigrette and toss gently to combine.

Guiding Stars Expert Chef Erin Dow balances three food worlds. As a mother of three young children, she’s fighting the battle every parent faces: how to keep her kids interested in the foods that keep them healthy. As the chef and owner of her catering company Eatswell Farm, she utilizes original recipes and techniques–focused on enhancing the enjoyment of locally-sourced ingredients–to best interpret the client’s vision. And as Consulting Executive Chef for Falmouth-based Professional Catering Services, a business specializing in production and backstage catering for concerts, she develops and executes menus that accommodate the strict nutritional requirements of the music industry elite. Erin and her family raise their own chicken for meat and eggs, have dabbled in pastured Narragansett turkeys, and have a very weedy but very large and productive garden.

Nutrition Rating System Helps Busy Shoppers Easily Identify Healthier Foods

Guiding Stars, the world’s first store-wide nutrition navigation system, announces that Kings Super Markets, Inc. has decided to implement its good-better-best nutrition rating system in all 24 grocery stores located in New Jersey and Long Island, New York.

With the introduction of Guiding Stars, each edible item throughout the store is rated, earning a zero-to-three star rating according to its nutritional value. The system offers busy shoppers a simple, at-a-glance tool that helps them quickly identify foods with the most nutrition for the calories.

“We are committed to exceeding customer expectations and Guiding Stars adds significant value by making it easier for shoppers to identify nutritious choices while they shop,” said Patricia Mikell, senior director of marketing at Kings Super Markets. “We aim to play a key role in helping our shoppers lead a healthy lifestyle, and Guiding Stars will be another important tool in achieving that goal.”

“The Guiding Stars program, is beneficial in helping shoppers identify healthier choices, and a great fit for Kings which is well known for providing a high quality shopping experience,” said John Eldredge, director of brand & business development at Guiding Stars Licensing Company. “Guiding Stars helps take the guesswork out of nutritious shopping by eliminating the need to compare every item in the store.”

Guiding Stars features a proprietary algorithm that is grounded in evidence-based science and utilizes the most current guidelines and recommendations of leading national and international health organizations, such as the FDA, USDA and World Health Organization. The system credits all edible foods based on the presence of vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and whole grains, and debits for the presence of trans fat, saturated fats, cholesterol, added sugars and added sodium.

About Guiding Stars Licensing Co.

Since 2006, Guiding Stars has been leading the way in helping consumers make nutritious choices. The Guiding Stars program is a simple, easy-to-understand tool for making good nutritional choices and is designed to make a positive and lasting impact on public health. Guiding Stars is currently in more than 1,500 supermarkets including Food Lion, Hannaford, Bloom and Sweetbay. Guiding Stars has also launched the first nutrition rating system in a public school in Topsham, Maine, the dining halls and convenience stores of Bates College and the University of New Hampshire, and on the Shopper mobile iPhone application.

About Kings Super Markets, Inc.

Kings Super Markets, Inc. was founded in 1936 and today they operate with the goal of offering their customers everything “From Everyday to Fabulous Gourmet.” Kings offers all of the basics, plus a wide range of all natural, organic, and trans fat free products. Kings also offers interactive Cooking Studio classes, giving customers an opportunity to get the most out of their shopping experience in a fun and educational way.