Meijer Broadens NuVal's Reach

JULIE GALLAGHER

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Nearly a year after Meijer introduced the NuVal system in its stores, 2,000 additional items such as frozen snacks, mustards, baked goods and soups have received scores.

Ranging from 1 to 100, with 100 being the most nutritious, scores help consumers choose between items within and across categories. Disparities have been revealed between otherwise similar items like whole milk (50) and fat-free skim milk (91).

Meijer expanded NuVal at the request of shoppers.

“This independent nutritional scoring system has become an incredibly important tool for our shoppers over the past 10 months,” said Ralph Fischer, group vice president of grocery at Meijer, in a statement. “It's been a resounding success, and our customers wanted more products brought into the NuVal system.”

Some NuVal scores are surprising. Edy's Slow Churn Fat-Free No Salt Added Vanilla, Chocolate and Strawberry ice cream yogurt scored a 99, while a brand of raisins scored a 6.

Fruits and vegetables scored the highest of all categories, with collard greens and naval oranges scoring 100.

NuVal is also being used in Hy-Vee, United Supermarkets and Price Chopper stores, and could soon expand to others.

Although there are no definitive plans in place, Big Y registered dietitian Carrie Taylor is a fan of the program.

“I gave it my thumbs up, so it's all a matter of finding out if it's official,” she said.