KULLEN HELPS FIT LABELS TO REAL LIFE

RICHARD TURCSIK

WESTBURY, N.Y. -- King Kullen Grocery Co. here sponsored a daylong nutritional education program for older adults to help them apply the new food labeling law to shopping for groceries.

The chain offered free samples of many grocery products, including private label, during the event, which was attended by approximately 4,000 people above age 50.

The 50 Plus Consumer Exposition was coordinated by Mature Choices magazine, with King Kullen a major sponsor and the only supermarket participant. It was held last month in Uniondale, N.Y., on Long Island.

The event featured 120 exhibits, as well as a program of seminars. King Kullen's seminar was called "Everything You Wanted to Know About Nutrition but Forgot to Ask," and was run by Layne Lieberman-Anapol, the chain's director of nutrition. Other seminars covered topics such as financial planning, real estate, health care, travel and entertainment.

Lieberman-Anapol discussed the new FDA food pyramid guide, and distributed King Kullen's own nutrition brochure, the "Food & Nutrition Complete Guide to Food Labeling."

"We had three seminars that day and they were packed," Lieberman-Anapol told SN. "Ours was the most popular seminar. We addressed the mature consumer's concerns about health and nutrition.

"The seminar was about using the actual pyramid and labels together, how to make actual choices and where the foods fit in, and being aware of the part of the pyramid where the fats and sugars come into play. People don't understand that fats and sugars are throughout the pyramid," she explained.

Lieberman-Anapol said that during and between seminars, consumers could sample a selection of healthy foods from various manufacturers. Apple & Eve gave samples of its cranberry juice blends, and talked about the benefits of cranberry juice for the gastrointestinal tract, for example. Other products sampled were Guiltless Gourmet bean dip and fat-free corn chips, Larsen Beef, Sunnydale milk, salsa from Stuff Sauces and dry grocery products from Health Valley and Fantastic Foods.

"We showed people that there are so many different choices out there. So many foods will fit into the pyramid if you are making healthy choices. For example, if people are on a sodium-restricted diet there are potato chips they can eat, because now sodium-free and fat-free chips are out there today.

The chain set up a game of chance in the exhibit's main room, so that as attendees entered, they were given a chance to spin the wheel and win a grocery item.

"We were also sampling the products that were on the wheel. We had King Kullen private-label apple juice, cookies, pastas and sauces, Bumble Bee diet low-salt chunk white tuna, Frookies cookies, Apple & Eve cranberry juice blend and Stuff fat free sauces," Lieberman-Anapol said.

King Kullen had advertised its participation in the 50 Plus Expo through its weekly circular, its consumer newsletter, and through TV and radio ads.