Sean Moloughney07.14.08
A comprehensive rating system that measures a food’s nutritional value on a scale of one to 100 is set to debut in three major U.S. supermarket chains this September.
The NuVal Nutritional Scoring System utilizes the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI), which weighs more than 30 different nutrient markers through a proprietary algorithm.
A panel of about a dozen medical and nutrition experts from leading North American universities and health organizations developed the ONQI over a two-year period.
Factors involved in determining the score for any food, beverage or recipe include: vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates, fat, antioxidants and other nutrients.
The complex and comprehensive formula offers consumers the opportunity to evaluate products within and across specific food categories. A higher ONQI score reflects foods with higher nutritional value.
NuVal, LLC, the independent company formed to bring the system to market, is a joint venture of Topco Associates, LLC, and Griffin Hospital, home to the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center and a teaching affiliate of the Yale University School of Medicine.
The first three grocery chains to use the NuVal system will be named publicly in September, marking the first wave of an education program that is expected to expand nationwide by this time next year.
An online database where consumers can view ONQI scores for foods, beverages and recipes is also expected to launch later this summer.
“Consumers want clear information about the nutritional value of the foods they eat, and NuVal scores are going to give it to them,” said NuVal president Nancy McDermott. “We’ve got the scientific foundation, the logistical ability and the retail partners needed to bring this important education to consumers coast to coast.”
On average, there are approximately 40,000 products in a typical U.S. supermarket, and the NuVal system intends to rate all of them by September 2009, empowering consumers to make better-informed decisions about their health and nutrition.
NuVal’s double-hexagon emblem, bearing the score of each individual product, will appear on shelf tags next to the price. Retailers will use banners, shelf-talkers, brochures, associate training and other forms of in-store communication to tell the NuVal story.
The NuVal Nutritional Scoring System utilizes the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI), which weighs more than 30 different nutrient markers through a proprietary algorithm.
A panel of about a dozen medical and nutrition experts from leading North American universities and health organizations developed the ONQI over a two-year period.
Factors involved in determining the score for any food, beverage or recipe include: vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates, fat, antioxidants and other nutrients.
The complex and comprehensive formula offers consumers the opportunity to evaluate products within and across specific food categories. A higher ONQI score reflects foods with higher nutritional value.
NuVal, LLC, the independent company formed to bring the system to market, is a joint venture of Topco Associates, LLC, and Griffin Hospital, home to the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center and a teaching affiliate of the Yale University School of Medicine.
The first three grocery chains to use the NuVal system will be named publicly in September, marking the first wave of an education program that is expected to expand nationwide by this time next year.
An online database where consumers can view ONQI scores for foods, beverages and recipes is also expected to launch later this summer.
“Consumers want clear information about the nutritional value of the foods they eat, and NuVal scores are going to give it to them,” said NuVal president Nancy McDermott. “We’ve got the scientific foundation, the logistical ability and the retail partners needed to bring this important education to consumers coast to coast.”
On average, there are approximately 40,000 products in a typical U.S. supermarket, and the NuVal system intends to rate all of them by September 2009, empowering consumers to make better-informed decisions about their health and nutrition.
NuVal’s double-hexagon emblem, bearing the score of each individual product, will appear on shelf tags next to the price. Retailers will use banners, shelf-talkers, brochures, associate training and other forms of in-store communication to tell the NuVal story.