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Grocers Dispensing Nutritional Advice To Their Customers

A nutritional-scoring system being tested at some Kroger grocery stores is part of a nationwide move by retailers to be pushier about offering nutritional advice to their customers. The NuVal scoring system, which was developed by academics, uses nutrition data on food labels and other public information to calculate how well a product helps meet federal dietary recommendations, Timothy W. Martin and Ilan Brat report.

Safeway, meanwhile, is using data from loyalty cards to recommend healthier alternatives to the foods its customers buy. Some chains have tested the use of loyalty-card data to dispense coupons for lower-calorie alternatives to shoppers who have bought full-calorie versions. Other chains are going so far as to hire dietitians to advise shoppers on how to select healthier food or even offer personalized recommendations for a fee. Wal-Mart will announce details of its own nutrition program later this summer.

"It's not our responsibility to tell shoppers what to eat, what not to eat or how to eat," says Hy-Vee CEO Ric Jurgens. Still, "we need to provide them with as much information as we can, to help them make good decisions and provide as many options as possible."

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