Reader: NuVal has no value to people who really care about food

The NuVal system now in use at King Soopers is supposed to be "nutrition made easy," rating foods on a scale of 1 to 100. "Basically, the way scores are calculated, we look at thirty different nutrients -- both that are considered good and not so good -- to get...

By Patricia Calhoun

January 19, 2012

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The NuVal system now in use at King Soopers is supposed to be "nutrition made easy," rating foods on a scale of 1 to 100. "Basically, the way scores are calculated, we look at thirty different nutrients -- both that are considered good and not so good -- to get a score," says Robert Keane, spokesman for NuVal. "To put it simply, we would divide the numerator, which is the good things, such as vitamins and fiber and things of that nature, by the bad things, such as sugar, fat, trans fat, cholesterol and things of that nature. That equation roughly gives you the NuVal score."

But some of our readers aren't buying it.

Says realfoodplease;

NuVal is a way for a any producer of crap processed food to turn their product into a healthy food. Sprinkle a vitamin pill in the box, remove any fat and presto, a nutritious food.

Tim's take:

Anything to keep the masses scared.

Cooking is hard. Shopping is hard. Don't worry about reading the label. We did it for you. Besides, there are big words back there, and numbers and percentages. Ugh....math. Let us make it easier. After all, we're a panel of twelve accomplished minds.....Not to be confused with the accomplished minds that created the food pyramid and its 6-11 daily servings of breads, cereals, rice and pasta. Their minds weren't as accomplished as ours. See, we have a patent pending algorithm.

But then there's this offer from King Soopers:

NuVal is a wonderful tool to make simpler, nutritious choices! We dietitians at King Soopers would be happy to give you a store tour or one-on-one consultation to give you more details. We're also open to providing you any nutrition information you may be seeking, whether on diabetes, heart health, whatever you choose. Our services are free! Please contact [email protected] with any questions you may have, or to set up an appointment.

There's got to be value in that!

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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