Nuval, the nutrition rating system that scores product from 0-100, announced this week the addition of a fourth supermarket chain as a partner – United Supermarkets, LLC of Lubbock, Texas, which operates 50 stores under the United Supermarkets, Market Street, and Amigos United names. Only 6 of the stores will be launching NuVal initially, beginning in March 2010. The rest will roll out during the remainder of 2010.

NuVal, originall called ONQI,  is a nutrition rating system developed by Dr. David Katz and other prominent scientists and nutrition experts in order to help shoppers make healthier choices at the supermarket. We explained the system and compared it to the (R.I.P) Smart Choices Program here.

NuVal is currently available at Price Chopper, Hy-Vee, and Meijer supermarkets in 19 states and over 500 supermarkets, according to company.

Coinciding with the PR, the NuVal website has been redesigned and it also includes a game called “Nutrition by the Numbers” where players have to rank 3 products by their NuVal score.

What you need to know:

This is a a small win for the NuVal licensing company, that had expected to be in thousands of supermarkets by this time when the program was announced last year. Nuval has yet to gain entry into one of the larger chains such as Kroeger, Publix, or Safeway.

We recently asked a NuVal board member why this is, but got a general answer that there is “a lot of work in progress.”

Here are a few thoughts on why NuVal is not as far ahead as it expected:

1. NuVal is not sponsored by food manufacturers, as Smart Choices was, and therefore its scores do not show on product packages. They appear on shelf tags together with the prices. Our sources tell us that this is causing a logistical nightmare as products are arranged on different shelves, prices change, and employees are not always aware of the new labeling.

2. NuVal’s competitors, especially Smart Choices and Guiding Stars, as well as individual efforts by some chains, have divided the industry, making it very hard for any player to gain substantially.

3. The recent inquiries by the FDA into “front of pack” nutrition labels may also have supermarkets sitting on the sidelines, waiting to see if a federally mandated standard will render existing systems useless or illegal.

4. Lastly, some supermarkets may find themselves in a conflict of interest. On one hand, providing consumers with more nutrition information is a good thing to do and builds loyalty. On the other, it may create a loss in revenue because customers will now buy less of the profitable junk foods and beverages. These profit-centers occupy substantial real estate in all modern supermarkets.

What to do at the supermarket:

Whether your local supermarket is participating in a nutrition labeling program or not, you can still make sound choices. The best advice is to buy minimally processed foods, with short, understandable ingredient lists. Make sure you get plenty of fruits and vegetables, limit your snacks to a very few, and opt to drink tap water instead of soft drinks.

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Meijer is rolling out what it hopes will be another helpful means for consumers to assess the nutritional quality of foods at the supermarket. NuVal assigns a score of 0-100 to food products based on a proprietary algorithm called ONQI (overall nutritional quality index) developed by top nutrition experts.

According to Dr. David Katz, the scientist behind ONQI / NuVal, the values of  30 nutrients in a food product are crunched in a formula that yields a final score. Nutrients to encourage, such as fiber and vitamin C, increase the score, while saturated fats and sugars reduce it.

As would be expected, vegetables and fruits score high, milk and meats lower, and most processed foods the lowest.

What you need to know:

We covered NuVal in detail when it launched several months ago,  commenting on both the positive and negative aspects of such a system.

On the bright side, the system provides a simple, intuative, front of label indication of a food’s health value.

On the other hand, there is an inherent conflict of interests between retailers and consumers. Most consumers, we assume, want to eat healthy. But retailers want to sell them as much as possible and at high margins. Unfortunately the most profitable products are processed foods (Soft drinks are a great example: water, colors and sugar – very profitable).The healthy foods, less processed, fruits vegetables, grains, and basics like milk and meats, do not carry a high profit margin. For a retailer, steering its customers to healthier products is then, essentially, like someone shooting himself in the foot.

Perhaps this is why NuVal, which hoped to have 15-20 retailers on board by now, can count Meijer only as its third partner, following limited launches at Hy-Vee and Price Chopper in January.

What to do at the supermarket:

Most Americans will have to wait till NuVal hits their local grocery store. So diligent shoppers will have to continue checking the ingredient lists and nutrition labels to make sure they know exactly what they are putting on their families’ plates.

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Starting this Sunday, Meijer is offering health conscious consumers a new line of store brand products called “Meijer Naturals”.

In a press release, Meijer detailed its gameplan:

[Meijer Naturals] was created to provide a healthy and tasty alternative for customers who seek wholesome foods that are minimally processed and contain nothing artificial.

“Meijer Naturals is a natural fit for us, and a great fit for those who lead a smart and active lifestyle where healthy living and eating are paramount,” said Ralph Fischer, group vice president-foods at Meijer.  “This is an exciting brand that we feel today’s shopper will embrace given that it’s delicious, wholesome and a great value.”

Read the entire press release [Reuters]…

There will be 75 products in the lineup, from snacks and sauces to desserts and beverages, priced 10-15% lower than comparable national brands.

According to Meijer, the products will NOT contain:
- Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)
- high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)
- artificial sweeteners
- added hydrogenated oils or trans fats
- artificial food colorings or flavorings
- artificial preservatives

What you need to know:

Meijer is a regional chain with 185 stores in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky.

Two years ago the retailer launched an organic line, and this is dubbed the sister line. At a time where organic may be too expensive, this seems like a smart marketing move by Meijer.

Since there is no definition for what “Natural” means (at least not by the FDA), Meijer took the liberty of defining it themselves.

Keep in mind that natural does not necessarily means healthy. Potato chips are all natural. Sugar, butter, and salt are all natural, but best consumed sparingly. Cyanide is also natural…you get the drift.

What to do at the supermarket:

As always, don’t trust health claims on boxes and don’t get blinded by shiny packages. Take a look at the ingredient list and nutrition panel before deciding if a product is truly healthy for you or not.

If any of our loyal readers in the Michigan area can get their hands on some new products and email us pictures including the nutrition panel, we’ll be happy to help you analyze the data and see just how healthy the natural line really is.

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In one sentence: Err on the side of caution – don’t buy a product with peanuts for the time being. If it hasn’t been recalled yet, it may be tomorrow.

As parents and slightly paranoid consumers, when someone tells us everything is fine, we worry. If that someone is an investment manager or the FDA, we worry A LOT.

While just 2 weeks ago consumers were assured that the PBS outbreak was limited, and that they need to watch out for only a few items, it now appears that almost any product containing peanuts in various forms  is being recalled. This is partly due to new findings about the subpar sanitary conditions at the supplier manufacturing plant, which included mold, slime, pests, and rodents. Yikes!

Peanut Corporation of America  expanded its recall to ALL products it manufactured at its plant in the past 2 years! The expanded recall includes dry roasted peanuts,  oil roasted peanuts, granulated peanuts, peanut meal, peanut butter and peanut paste. The firm has supplied hundreds of manufacturers across the country, so the results of this recall have had and will continue to have a ripple effect.

Some previous recalls are being expanded by manufacturers to additional products, and more states. The recal list is growing, almost by the hour. The FDA has contacted over 350 manufacturers concerning possible contamination.

But knowing how underfunded and understaffed the FDA is, does not add confidence that the parents are receiving timely advice. Nor does the fact that recalls are voluntary, which means manufacturers have the last say, instead of the FDA mandating a recall on day one of the outbreak.

What to do at the supermarket:

If you spot someone walking into a supermarket with a list of the 500+ products being recalled in order to find one that isn’t, please let us know. Right now,  parents are reading food labels carefully. May are avoiding anything with the word peanut in the ingredient list. Proceed with caution.

Here’s the Current Recall List: Read more…

More updates on the salmonella / peanut butter outbreak. According to USA Today:

Peanut butter and peanut paste manufactured by the Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) has been tied to the salmonella outbreak that has sickened 501 people in 43 states and is believed to have contributed to eight deaths.

Read the article…

Half of the outbreak victims are children under the age of 18. Children and the elderly are especially prone to sickness as a result of salmonella contamination.

A small consolation – The outbreak seems to finally be slowing down in the past day or two.

Here’s the Current Recall List: Read more…

photo: Elliott Minor/Associated Press

The current salmonella / peanut butter crisis has caused 500 illnesses and 7 deaths, with more product recalls every day (see updated list at the bottom of this post). The New York Times reports that the processing facility in Georgia was repeatedly cited for unsanitary conditions, as recently as 2007:

Inspections of the plant in Blakely, Ga., by the state agriculture department found areas of rust that could flake into food, gaps in warehouse doors large enough for rodents to get through, unmarked spray bottles and containers, and numerous violations of other practices designed to prevent food contamination. The plant, owned by Peanut Corporation of America of Lynchburg, Va., has been shut down. Read more…

Is the FDA doing enough?

Is the government, and more specifically the FDA, doing its best to protect us from poisoned food? With the resources at hand, maybe. But perhaps it’s not enough. Here’s why, based on the handling of the current PBS (peanut butter salmonella) situation:

The FDA can only recommend product recalls, not mandate them. And so, it is at the discretion of each and every manufacturer to decide if, what, and when to recall. Why do consumers need to hear each day of 10 new products being recalled, instead of having all 500 (or more) recalled immediately?

Salmonella can survive in peanut butter’s fatty environment for months. This means that people may have bought a product last month, that will be recalled tomorrow or in 5 weeks.  Worried consumers are not buying any peanut butter based products now, and this is ultimately going to hurt the food manufacturers. Had all potentially suspect products been recalled immediately, shoppers could continue to buy other products safe and sound.

Corporate responsibility

As of yesterday the FDA has singled out one Georgia factory as the source of salmonella. All companies who have received peanut butter and peanut paste from this factory in the past 6 months should immediately issue a recall on all products they have produced with the tainted peanut butter. Each of these companies surely must have records tracking which peanut butter went where, right? Right ?!

Could this tracking information be  incomplete, missing, or simply non-existent?

In the industrialized food reality of today, where a product can have 35 ingredients sourced from 20 suppliers in 12 countries, a good logistical database is a must. We certainly have the technology. Do corporations have the will?

Consumer Information

The FDA’s website is a good source of information on the current situation. However, for a crisis that is evolving literally by the hour, consumers have come to expect more frequent updates.

Hello (!), this is a post web 2.0 society – Youtube videos, twitter updates, facebook, and at a bare minimum – show us pictures of the recalled products, nobody can remember some of these products’ full names.

Here’s the Current Recall List:

46 Recalls, over 150 products as of early Saturday morning Jan 24.

• Whole Foods Market – “Carob Energee Nuggets”
• Amway Global – NUTRILITE Energy Bars
• Brent and Sam’s – Archer Farms Brand Cookies
• Brent and Sam’s – Sam’s Choice Brand Cookies
• Trader Joe’s – Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter Chewy Coated & Drizzled Granola Bars, Nutty Chocolate Chewy Coated & Drizzled Granola Bars, Sutter’s Formula Cookies
• Parker Products – Peanut Butter Products (bulk)
• Arbonne International – Figure 8 Peanut Butter Chews
• Jimmy’s Cookies – Peanut Butter Cookies
• Perry’s Ice Cream Company – 2 more Peanut Butter Ice Cream Products
• Kroger -  Additional Select Ice Cream Product
• General Nutrition Centers – GNC Triflex Peanut Butter Soft Chews
• Chef Jay’s – Tri-O-Plex Products
• Rain Creek Baking Corp – Peanut Butter Turtles, Peanut Butter Baskets, Peanut Butter Princesses
• South Bend Chocolate Company – Extends Nationwide Recall of Candy
• Nash Finch – Bakery Products With Peanut Butter
• Aspen Hills, Inc. – Cookie Dough Products
• Best Brands Corp. – Peanut Butter Frozen Cookie Dough
• Lovin Oven, LLC – Health Valley Organic Peanut Crunch Chewy Granola Bars
• Landies Candies – Peanut Butter Filled Chocolates
• Weis Markets – Weis Quality (WQ) Cheese Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers , WQ Toasted Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers
• Blanton’s Candies – Peanut Butter Sticks
• Dinners Ready Meridian – Asian Marinated Flank Steak, Indonesian Chicken – Chicken Satay Prepared Meals
• Boca Grande Foods – POCO PAC, GRANDE GOURMET Peanut Butter Products
• Premier Nutrition – TWISTED and TITAN Branded Bars Containing Peanut Butter
• NutriSystem – Peanut Butter Granola Bar
• Ready Pac Foods – Trader Joe’s, Eating Right branded products
  
• PetSmart – Grreat Choice® Dog Biscuits
• Nature’s Path – Peanut Butter Optimum Energy Bars
• Country Maid – Classic Breaks® Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
• Evening Rise Bread Co. -  Peanut Butter Cookies and Bars
• Clif Bar -  CLIF® and LUNA® Branded Bars
• Kroger – Select Ice Cream Products
• Abbott Nutrition -  ZonePerfect® Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, ZonePerfect® Peanut Toffee Bars, NutriPals™ Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars
• Meijer – Peanut Butter Crackers, Ice Cream
• Peanut Corporation of America Expands Nationwide Recall of Peanut Butter
• Wal-Mart -  Bakery Brand Peanut Butter Cookies
• Lofthouse – Peanut Butter Cookies, Chuck’s Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies, Pastries Plus Gourmet Cookies
• Food Lion – Bake Shop Peanut Butter Cookies
• South Bend Chocolate Company – Candies Containing Peanut Butter
• McKee Foods – Little Debbie® Peanut Butter Toasty, Peanut Butter Cheese Sandwich Crackers
• Perry’s Ice Cream – Select Peanut Butter Ice Cream Products
• Hy-Vee Inc. – Bakery Products With Peanut Butter
• Peanut Corporation of America Expands Nationwide Recall of Peanut Butter
• Kellogg Company – Austin® and Keebler® Branded Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, Snack-Size Packs of Famous Amos® And Keebler® Soft Batch Peanut Butter Cookies
• Peanut Corporation of America – Peanut Butter (bulk packages)
• King Nut – Peanut Butter (bulk packages)

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[Update: Jan 23 - 8 more recall notices ]
[Update: Jan 21 - 7 more recall notices ]
[Update: Jan 20 - 4 more recalls, including pet food!]

As of late last night early late Wednesday morning night Friday morning, there were 16 20 27 35 recalls announced on the FDA website, ranging from bulk peanut butter packages, to crackers, cookies,  and ice cream. Now, even our dogs are in danger. The FDA has asked 30 companies to consider holding or recalling their products. So there may be a few more announcements today and later this week.

A full list of recalls to date is at the bottom of this post.

What you need to know:

Recalls are voluntary, which means the FDA cannot mandate a company to pull products off the shelves unless salmonella has actually been found in a sampling. (For example, Salmonella has been found in Kellogg’s Austin Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter.)

For many companies, the recall process is expensive and may entail logistic complications as well. Could financial considerations override the risk of a consumer getting sick? We’d like to think not, but perhaps it would be wiser if the FDA had more authority in such cases to order the recall / hold of all suspected products, pending further investigation.

What to do at the supermarket:

You’ve probably figured this one out on your own. (97.5% ore more of the products in a typical supermarket are peanut butter free.)

Current Recall List:

• Chef Jay’s – Tri-O-Plex Products
• Rain Creek Baking Corp – Peanut Butter Turtles, Peanut Butter Baskets, Peanut Butter Princesses
• South Bend Chocolate Company – Extends Nationwide Recall of Candy
• Nash Finch – Bakery Products With Peanut Butter
• Aspen Hills, Inc. – Cookie Dough Products
• Best Brands Corp. – Peanut Butter Frozen Cookie Dough
• Lovin Oven, LLC – Health Valley Organic Peanut Crunch Chewy Granola Bars
• Landies Candies – Peanut Butter Filled Chocolates
• Weis Markets – Weis Quality (WQ) Cheese Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers , WQ Toasted Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers
• Blanton’s Candies – Peanut Butter Sticks
• Dinners Ready Meridian – Asian Marinated Flank Steak, Indonesian Chicken – Chicken Satay Prepared Meals
• Boca Grande Foods – POCO PAC, GRANDE GOURMET Peanut Butter Products
• Premier Nutrition – TWISTED and TITAN Branded Bars Containing Peanut Butter
• NutriSystem – Peanut Butter Granola Bar
• Ready Pac Foods – Trader Joe’s, Eating Right branded products
  
• PetSmart – Grreat Choice® Dog Biscuits
• Nature’s Path – Peanut Butter Optimum Energy Bars
• Country Maid – Classic Breaks® Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
• Evening Rise Bread Co. -  Peanut Butter Cookies and Bars
• Clif Bar -  CLIF® and LUNA® Branded Bars
• Kroger – Select Ice Cream Products
• Abbott Nutrition -  ZonePerfect® Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, ZonePerfect® Peanut Toffee Bars, NutriPals™ Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars
• Meijer – Peanut Butter Crackers, Ice Cream
• Peanut Corporation of America Expands Nationwide Recall of Peanut Butter
• Wal-Mart -  Bakery Brand Peanut Butter Cookies
• Lofthouse – Peanut Butter Cookies, Chuck’s Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies, Pastries Plus Gourmet Cookies
• Food Lion – Bake Shop Peanut Butter Cookies
• South Bend Chocolate Company – Candies Containing Peanut Butter
• McKee Foods – Little Debbie® Peanut Butter Toasty, Peanut Butter Cheese Sandwich Crackers
• Perry’s Ice Cream – Select Peanut Butter Ice Cream Products
• Hy-Vee Inc. – Bakery Products With Peanut Butter
• Peanut Corporation of America Expands Nationwide Recall of Peanut Butter
• Kellogg Company – Austin® and Keebler® Branded Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, Snack-Size Packs of Famous Amos® And Keebler® Soft Batch Peanut Butter Cookies
• Peanut Corporation of America – Peanut Butter (bulk packages)
• King Nut – Peanut Butter (bulk packages)

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