I do my best to feed my family healthy and nourishing meals and for the most part, I think I do a pretty good job. But sometimes deciding which foods are the best choices is tricky. I try to always glance at food labels and check the amount of sugar, protein, fibre or other nutrients that some of my purchases contain. But I simply don’t have time to compare every variety of yogurt to determine which brand has the least sugar and fat while still providing protein and calcium.
So what’s a busy parent to do? Turn to the Guiding Stars! This new program from President’s Choice is in Loblaws stores across Canada and gives popular foods a simple star rating so that families can determine with a quick glance which choices are the healthiest. The system grades foods based on a credit and debit system and then assigns the star ranking. Things like vitamins, minerals and fibre increase a food’s ranking while things like saturated fat and added sugar move it down. The program makes good food choices easier and, best of all, it’s easy enough for a child to understand!
The ranking system is a great starting point when shopping, but PC has even taken the program one step further with a personalized Guiding Stars Personal Profile. This free program is offered to PC Plus program members and automatically gauges their food choices online. Just sign in and you’ll find a percentage number that lets you know how many healthy choices you’re making, easy suggestions to improve your score and more. It takes tracking food choices to a whole new level so that living a healthier lifestyle isn’t a hassle.
Over the next few months, I’ll be tracking my family’s food choices and seeing how the PC Guiding Stars program helps us improve our lifestyle. Keep an eye out for updates on our progress, and make sure to check the number of stars on the foods you eat the next time you visit a Loblaws store. Even better, sign up for your free PC Plus membership to seeing what grade your food choices earn you. It’s a fun and easy way to get the whole family eating healthier!
I like anything that makes picking healthier foods easier!
awesome selection!
I like the Healthy Stars to let us know which foods to purchase.
Interesting! I have seen these stars and wondered what they were for. Now I know!
I will be checking out the Guiding Star Program soon for my new healthy eating program.
Well we don’t have a Loblaws here anymore and my kids are all grown with their own families now. This would have been great though when my boys were small.
I don’t shop at Loblaws all that often (I primarily shop sales) so I am not familiar with the Stars program. Not having children, all choices are my own. My problem comes when they advertise a sale on bread-type products (including bagels, tortillas, foccacia, buns, etc) but there is no whole grain version. Sometimes the photo of the item even includes a label that says “whole grain”. I have complained but not had a satisfactory explanation.
I use the system all the time when shopping at Loblaws.
I think this is an excellent program to help the consumer to decide on the healthiest choices for their family. This is a fantastic idea.
Loblaws is by far my favourite grocery store. We don’t have one where we live and the closest is over half an hour away but it’s well worth it!