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‘Guiding Stars,’ Make Thyme for Dinner Join Forces on Recipe Ratings

“Guiding Stars,” the pioneering store-wide nutrition navigation system, has broken further new ground via a new partnership with meal assembly business Make Thyme for Dinner that enables time-starved families to eat more nutritious meals at home.

Each month, a portion of Make Thyme for Dinner’s 16 offered recipes will earn one, two or three stars in accordance with their nutritional value, as indicated on the South Portland, Maine-based company’s Web site and in-shop signage. Guiding Stars Licensing Co. (GSLC) will rate Make Thyme for Dinner’s ‘cook at home’ recipes, thereby helping busy consumers select meals that offer the most nutrition for the calories. Make Thyme for Dinner enables customers to assemble a month’s worth home-cooked meals in under two hours by provides all of the recipes and prepared, fresh ingredients.

“In this tough economy, many families are choosing to save money and cook meals at home, but not everyone has the time to assemble a nutritious homemade dinner,” noted John Eldredge, director of brand & business development at Scarborough, Maine-based GSLC. “[This collaboration will] help take the nutritional guesswork and time-consuming prep work out of home cooking.”

“Adding Guiding Stars nutrition ratings to our menu provides our patrons with another easy-to-use tool to help simplify home cooking,” said Make Time for Dinner owner Paula Pelczar. “Guiding Stars helps busy families to quickly identify the most nutritious options, making the meals they serve at home even healthier.”

The Guiding Stars system, which first rolled out in Hannaford Supermarkets three years ago next month, employs a proprietary algorithm rooted in evidence-based science and the most up-to-date guidelines and recommendations of national and international health organizations such as the FDA and USDA. The program credits all edible foods based on the presence of vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber and whole grains, and debits for the presence of trans fat, saturated fats, cholesterol, added sugars and added sodium. Food items are then given zero, one, two or three stars, with one star denoting good nutritional value; two stars, better nutritional value; and three stars, the highest nutritional value. Guiding Stars is currently in use at Hannaford’s fellow Delhaize banners, Sweetbay Supermarket and Food Lion, as well at a public school system and a university both located in Maine.
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