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Sunflower Farmers Market launches nutrition labeling program |
02.05.2010
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By Ellen Ranta
BOULDER, Colo.-Sunflower Farmers Market, based here, debuted a new color-coded nutrition labeling program in all its stores on Jan. 6.
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The program was formulated by Sunflower's registered dietician, Maya Nahra, and is different from other retailers' shelf labeling programs in a few ways, she said.
"Sunflower is already known as a natural and organic store, and our products are already considered healthy," Nahra said. "We decided to go one-step beyond this and look a little bit deeper into the main areas of health concerns-heart disease, diabetes, obesity and allergies."
Nahra combined the American Dietetic Association's dietary recommendations with a personal passion for whole, good food to create criteria for tagging in four areas: orange Smart Celiac tags, red Smart Heart tags, blue Smart Carb tags and purple Smart Weight tags.
Nahra said the decision to create the program was prompted by other retailers creating similar programs, but one thing she was sure about was that there would be no manufacturer influence on what products are tagged.
"We planned on rolling this program out right after the Smart Choices fiasco hit," she said in reference to the recent suspension of the labeling program, Smart Choices, after the FDA called attention to the possible inaccuracy of the front-of package claims. "I knew then how important it was for there to be no vendor influence in our program. Our tags are really based on me as a nutritionist putting together the criteria."
Nahra said there are no plans for additional categories, but she plans to expand them a bit by labeling relevant fruits and veggies with Smart Carb tags, as well as expanding the Smart Celiac tag into the store's skin and body care products.
"Some people with Celiac's disease can't tolerate gluten even touching their skin and hair," she said. "We hope to have that done by May, which is National Celiac Awareness month.
Nahra pointed to a final qualifying factor that she hopes makes the program unique-all clean ingredients.
"Beyond the basic criteria like whole grains or low-sodium, all of our tagged products must use clean, all-natural ingredients. No preservatives, no additives, no ingredients that aren't easily recognizable," she said.
Sunflower Farmers Markets currently has 28 retail stores in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Texas. In Texas, the stores are operated under the name Newflower Farmers Market.
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