Healthy foods can be found throughout the grocery store — not just around its perimeter. For shoppers, identifying healthier choices often means looking beyond front-of-package marketing claims and using tools such as the Nutrition Facts Panel to compare nutrients including fiber, saturated fat, sodium and added sugar.
As consumers become increasingly focused on health, nutrition and wellness, questions about healthy eating are influencing grocery purchasing decisions across nearly every department. Shoppers want to know what makes a food healthy, whether they can trust claims on product packaging and how to compare foods while navigating thousands of choices in a supermarket.
To explore those questions, Food Trade News spoke with Mandy Katz, Director of Healthy Living at Giant Food. Katz is a Registered Dietitian (RD), Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist (LDN) and Certified Specialist in Pediatrics (CSP). She works with customers and associates to provide evidence-based nutrition guidance and practical strategies for healthy eating.
In this six-part interview series, Katz addresses some of the most common questions consumers ask about nutrition, healthy diets, grocery shopping and wellness. Her answers also provide food retailers with insight into the health and nutrition questions their customers are bringing into the supermarket.
How Can Shoppers Find Healthy Foods in the Grocery Store?
The short answer: Healthy foods aren’t confined to one department or the perimeter of the supermarket. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins provide recognizable options, while packaged foods often require shoppers to look beyond front-of-package claims and examine the Nutrition Facts Panel.
FTN: There’s an old piece of grocery-shopping advice that says healthy shoppers should stick to the perimeter of the store. Is that actually a good way to find the healthiest foods?
Mandy: If you think I was going to say “shop the perimeter,” you guessed wrong. Some of the most nutrient-dense foods are in the middle of the store, and some of the most indulgent items are around the perimeter.
“Healthy” is more complicated than it sounds. We all agree on some basics like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and protein, but beyond that, definitions start to diverge quickly: organic, natural, non-GMO, low-carb, and so on.
The USDA defines “healthy” foods as those that support a nutrient-dense, balanced diet, emphasizing whole or minimally processed foods from key food groups while limiting added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium.
FTN: It’s cheese isn’t it? I just can’t seem to quit it.
What Does “Healthy” Mean on a Food Package?
FTN: When a shopper sees “healthy” on the front of a package, what does that actually tell them?
Mandy: Well, this is tricky. “Healthy” on the front of pack is a voluntary claim, and many products still use it even if they don’t fully meet updated standards, thanks to a phase-in period that runs through 2028. That’s why front-of-pack claims alone are not enough.
To truly find healthy foods, you may have to look on the back of the package.
The Nutrition Facts Panel is the standardized label that shows calories and key nutrients like fat, sodium, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, and minerals per serving.
Companies are required by law to follow strict FDA rules, so the format is consistent across all packaged foods and allows for reliable comparison between products.
The Nutrition Facts Panel shows you the nutrients of concern, helping you to identify the nutrients that impact your health positively like protein and fiber or negatively like saturated fat, sodium and added sugars.
How Do You Read the Nutrition Facts Panel?
FTN: I’m not that great at figuring out what all of those numbers and percentages mean. All I’ve been told is that I shouldn’t eat an entire sleeve of cookies in a single sitting…
Mandy: There is so much good information to be found on the Nutrition Facts Panel (and we teach classes on how to understand them line by line) but here is the simple rule of thumb: use the % Daily Value (% DV) to determine if an item is high or low in your nutrient of concern.
In general, we want a low % DV (under 5%) for nutrients like saturated fat, sodium and added sugar and a high % DV (10%+) for helpful nutrients like fiber.
At Giant Food, we also use a nutrition guidance tool called Guiding Stars that reads the Nutrition Facts Panel and rates foods based on nutrient density assign credits for
nutrient we want (vitamins, minerals, fiber) and debits for nutrients we want less of (saturated fats, sodium, added sugars).
It’s available in-store, online, and through a free app anyone can use. If you’re shopping with us, we have a monthly rewards program that gives extra points for choosing Guiding Stars-rated items, essentially rewarding you for choosing nutrient-dense foods.
Healthy foods can be found in every aisle and section of the grocery store. Whole fruits, vegetables and grains as well as lean meats are easier to identify so when in doubt,
check out the Nutrition Facts Panel or use a tool like Guiding Stars.
And no, not an entire sleeve of cookies…
Mandy Katz, Director of Healthy Living at Giant Food, brings a wealth of knowledge as a Registered Dietitian (RD), Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist (LDN), Certified Specialist in Pediatrics (CSP). Born and raised in the DMV, she received her Bachelor of Science in Dietetics from Morgan State University and a Master of Science from SUNY Oneonta. She’s passionate about all things food and shares the inside scoop on all things that affect healthy living. You can learn more through Giant Food’s Healthy Living program.