Guiding Stars Makes Its Quebec, Canada Debut

Making healthier food choices just got easier for Quebec shoppers with the introduction of Guiding Stars at select Loblaw Companies Limited banner stores across the province. As of August 1st, all Loblaws, Provigo and Provigo Le Marche stores in Quebec will feature Guiding Stars, impartial, nutrition navigation program, providing at-a-glance nutritional ratings for foods found in every store aisle. Appearing in 108 stores across the province of Quebec, Guiding Stars will reach millions of shoppers helping to take the guess work out of identifying nutritious foods. Already featured in 259 Ontario based Loblaw Companies Limited banner stores, Guiding Stars’ expansion into Quebec required translation of all store signs and customer materials into French. Additionally, a new French language website guideetoiles.ca was developed to assist French-speaking customers. “This is a major milestone for Guiding Stars in Canada,” says Jim McBride, director of operations. “Combined, the program is now in 367 stores in Ontario and Quebec, and is bilingual in English and French. We are excited to demonstrate that Guiding Stars translates well across borders and in multiple languages.” The Guiding Stars program is designed to complement existing nutritional data such as the nutrition facts table, on-package product labels and Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating. Guiding Stars is an impartial, patented food rating system that rates food based on nutrient density using a scientific algorithm grounded in the most current dietary guidelines and recommendations of national regulatory and health organizations. Foods are rated based on a balance of credits and debits. In Canada, foods are credited for vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre, whole grains and Omega-3 fatty acids, and debited for saturated fats, trans fats, added sodium and added sugar. Products can earn up to three stars. Rated foods are marked with easy-to-follow tags indicating 1, 2, or 3 stars, with 3-stars being the highest rating an item can receive. If a food has been rated and has no stars, it did not meet the nutrition criteria for a Guiding Star. To find out more about Guiding Stars in Canada visit guidingstars.ca or guideetoiles.ca.