Semantic Coherence: Guiding Stars – Signal Evidence & AI Readability

[H1] Guiding Stars

[H2] More good stuff in your cart and your life.
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Shop using Guiding Stars for nutritious choices made simple.
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[H2] FEATURED RECIPE

[H2] Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cookies
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Yogurt, fruit, and whole grains come together in these Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cookies for a dessert that feels a little lighter and a little brighter (just like the month of June!). Creamy yogurt, sweet blueberries, and whole wheat flour add flavor and texture while making this treat easy to feel good about sharing.
Find more recipes from Guiding Stars.
[H4] PRODUCT PICKS
Level up this recipe with these Star-earning options from our team of Registered Dietitians!
Chobani Nonfat Plain Greek Yogurt
Nature’s Promise Organic Unsweetened Applesauce
King Arthur Baking Company Whole Wheat Flour

[H2] TIMELY TOPICS

[H3] Everyday Nutrition with Dairy & Dairy Alternatives

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Milk shows up in more places than we often realize -from coffee and cereal to smoothies and cooking. And with today’s mix of dairy and plant-based options, many households keep more than one type on hand. During National Dairy Month, it’s a great time to take a closer look at everyday staples like milk, yogurt, and dairy alternatives - and how to choose which to include in your everyday routine.

Notice what each option brings. Different milks offer different nutritional strengths. A quick look at the nutrition label can help you understand what each one contributes.
Think beyond the glass. Milk and milk alternatives can add calcium, B12, and Vitamin D to your diet -- whether added to coffee, poured over cereal, blended into smoothies, or used in cooking and baking.
Let your routine guide the choice. From dairy milk to almond, oat, and soy beverages, today’s options make it easier to choose what fits your taste, your meals, and how you like to use it.

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[H2] Latest from Our Blog
[H3] Men, Time to Meat Halfway?
June 17, 2026June 11, 2026 by Kitty Broihier
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Many of us love meat, especially men. But is it time for a change? Learn the latest on practical, healthy ways to manage meat in your diet.
Continue Reading »

[H3] Discover the latest insights and tips on food, nutrition and what’s new with Guiding Stars.

[H3] Latest Recipes

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View Recipe » Great nutrition starts in your kitchen. Browse through our extensive recipe database for star-worthy recipes that will inspire you and make feeding your family nutritious food a little easier.
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[H3] Our Clients

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[H2] Overview
Guiding Stars is the fast and easy way to make nutritious choices. Use our nutrition guidance icons as you shop to save time, helping you get back to the things – and people – who matter most.
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[H3] Latest News

Partnership for a Healthier America Introduces 1st Pay-It-Forward Grocery Coalition How Food Lion turned our grocery trip into a nutrition lesson Guiding Stars, Partnership for a Healthier America Collaborate on Nutrition Guidelines Guiding Stars Updates Algorithm to Refine Nutrition Guidance Ahold Delhaize Gives Suppliers a Closer Look at Nutrition Trends

[H3] Food Finder

Want to see how products score? Search our database of over 100,000 products.
[H2] Latest from Our Blog
[H3] Dairy & Live & Active Cultures in a Balanced Diet
June 10, 2026June 10, 2026 by Allison Stowell
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At every age and even with various health concerns, dairy & live and active cultures can and should be part of a balanced diet. Here's how.
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[H3] I'm Done Losing Weight on a GLP-1—Now What?
June 3, 2026June 1, 2026 by Kitty Broihier
Now that you're done losing weight on a GLP-1, what happens next? Learn how to transition off of them with health and nutrition in mind.
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[H3] The Mediterranean Diet & Gut Health Connection
May 27, 2026May 21, 2026 by Kitty Broihier
The Mediterranean diet has many significant benefits. Did you know many of them are tied to gut health? Learn more about this key connection.
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[H2] Choosing foods with the best nutritional value can happen almost anywhere. Here are some examples of places where you can find the Guiding Stars program.
[H2] Grocery Stores

[H3] Food Lion
Food Lion, is based in Salisbury, N.C. The company strives to deliver quality products, low prices and great service to customers in 10 Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states.
Visit the Food Lion website »

[H3] Hannaford
Hannaford Supermarkets, is based in Scarborough, Maine and operates in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. The stores offer good prices, value, and top-quality fresh foods supported by daily deliveries and friendly, efficient service. Hannaford developed the Guiding Stars System in 2006 with the help of a scientific advisory panel.
Visit the Hannaford website »

[H3] GIANT FOOD STORES
GIANT’s story began in 1923 when David “D. J.” Javitch opened a two-man butcher shop called the Carlisle Meat Market with the intent of offering the best products at the fairest price. In 2013, GIANT celebrated their 90th anniversary with 90 day of community giving. They remain committed to giving shoppers a great experience.
Visit the GIANT FOOD STORES website »

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[H3] MARTIN’S FOODS
MARTIN’s was acquired by GIANT in 1970, joining to become GIANT/MARTIN’S and continuing the growth trend that led the company to be acquired by Ahold in 1982. In 2013, GIANT/MARTIN’S celebrated their 90th anniversary with 90 day of community giving. They remain committed to giving shoppers a great experience.
Visit the MARTIN’S FOODS website »

[H3] Stop & Shop
Stop & Shop has been around for more than 100 years and counting. A lot has changed in all that time; for example, they’ve grown in size and in scale. They now operate more than 400 stores throughout New York, New England and New Jersey. They started small, back in 1914 when the Rabinowitz family opened a small grocery store in Somerville, MA. Four years later, they came up with the modern self-service supermarket and by 1947, the company had grown into a flourishing chain of 86 supermarkets. A real-life American dream come true.
And the dream is still going strong. Stop & Shop has become a household name to customers and a leader in the retail grocery industry, pioneering the superstore concept that everyone loves. They have accomplished a lot, like expanding and offering new products and technologies and providing top-level service to all of their customers.
Visit the Stop & Shop website »

[H3] Giant Food
Our story starts in 1936 when N.M. Cohen and Samuel Lehrman founded Giant Food Inc. and opened Washington, DC’s first supermarket. Since then, we’ve continued to grow and innovate, pioneering computer-assisted checkout scanning and opening over 150 stores throughout Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
Visit the Giant Food website »

[H2] Food Service

[H3] University of New Hampshire
The University of New Hampshire, founded in 1866, is a world-class public research university with the feel of a New England liberal arts college. A land, sea and space-grant university, UNH is the state’s flagship public institution, enrolling 12,200 undergraduate and 2,300 graduate students.
Visit the University of New Hampshire website »

[H3] University of North Dakota
The University of North Dakota is the state’s most comprehensive intensive research university and the primary center for professional and educational training. Founded by the Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, UND has remained a university with a strong liberal arts foundation surrounded by a variety of professional and specialized programs. UND is one of 47 public universities in the nation with both accredited graduate schools of law and medicine. UND enrolls over 13,000 students in 217 fields of study from baccalaureate through doctoral and professional degrees.
Visit the University of North Dakota website »

[H2] Convenience Store

[H3] WaWa

Visit the WaWa website »

[H2] Partners

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[H3] Solutran
Since 1982, Solutran has provided a full range of treasury management solutions to the nation’s top corporations and state governments. Solutran’s services span the payment spectrum, from paper check processing and conversion to fully electronic payments and WIC processing. Their mission is to manage the flow of financial transactions for clients who issue or receive high volumes of payments.
Visit the Solutran website »

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[H3] Midcentury Media
Midcentury Media, a New York-based company is building the premier in-store mobile shopping assistant to help consumers decide where to shop and what to buy. MCM’s iPhone application, Shopper, has consistently been a top seller in the lifestyle category of the iTunes App Store, where it continues to delight consumers with a simple and intuitive interface.
Visit the Midcentury Media website »

[H3] Circana

Visit the Circana website »

[H3] Partnership for Healthier America

Visit the Partnership for Healthier America website »

[H3] Syndigo

Visit the Syndigo website »

[H3] Next Steps:
Learn more about becoming a client »
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[H1] More Good Stuff In your cart and in your life
Look for the Guiding Stars icons on your store’s shelf tags and start adding more good stuff to your cart and your future.
How It Works
Store Finder
[H2] Shop like a nutrition expert.
Finding nutritious options can get complicated, but we make it simple. Our nutrition guidance program reads nutrition labels and measures every product using established nutrition science. If it meets our transparent nutrition criteria, it earns a 1, 2, or 3 star rating. It’s that easy!
One Star
GOOD Nutrition
Two Stars
BETTER Nutrition
Three Stars
BEST Nutrition
[H3] 1
[H2] Read
First, we read the nutrition labels for every product in the grocery store.
[H3] 2
[H2] Measure
Then we objectively measure each product using established nutrition science.
[H3] 3
[H2] Rate
If a product meets our transparent nutrition criteria, it earns a 1, 2, or 3 star rating for Good, Better, or Best nutrition.
See the science behind Guiding Stars.
Learn More
[H2] Add more good stuff.
Nutritious choices add up and have a big impact on our future health. Guiding Stars shelf tag ratings make it easy to find Good, Better, and Best options across the store. Just look for the stars on shelf tags or while shopping online to add more good stuff to your cart.
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Saturated Fats
Trans Fat

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[H2] Where are the stars?
You don’t have to look far. Our star ratings are conveniently located on shelf tags, prepared foods, and store-brand packaging at participating grocery stores. You can use them while shopping online for groceries at these stores, too.
And, in the spirit of keeping things simple, you can check the rating of over 100,000 products using the search below or browse over 1,200 Star-earning recipes on our site.
Want to see how different products score?

[H2] We want to hear from you!

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Meat-eating has been connected with masculinity for a long time in Western countries. There are even studies on what drives the meat-masculinity link. Between the continued popularity of the “Carnivore Diet” and the meat-forward new Dietary Guidelines for Americans, you might be wondering if the science on meat-eating has changed recently. Here’s the latest on red meat and health, and practical ways to manage meat in your diet.
[H2] What Does Meat Bring to the Table?
Overall, meat has a lot of good nutrition going for it. It contributes essential nutrients including protein, minerals (such as iron, zinc, selenium, and phosphorus), vitamins (A and multiple B vitamins), and bioactive compounds such as creatine. A recent systematic review article found that, in general, meat-eaters are more likely to have high intakes of protein, some B vitamins, and zinc. However, they are also more likely to have inadequate consumption of nutrients prevalent in plants (such as fiber, polyunsaturated fats, vitamin E, folate, and magnesium). Meat is also a major source of saturated fat.
[H2] Meat and Health
Decades of research show an association between red meat, processed meat, and higher risk for certain diseases. Saturated fat, and its impact on cholesterol levels, used to be considered the main connection between meat consumption and disease. However, as science has evolved, there appears to be more to it. For example, researchers now recognize the gut microbiome’s response to a diet high in meat as an important factor. Another is the overall nutritional impact of eating a meat-heavy diet compared to one with plentiful plant foods. Here are some recent findings in the areas where meat appears to have the most detrimental impact on health:
Cardiovascular Disease. A 2023 meta-analysis of nine studies found that eating unprocessed red meat correlates with a significant increase in total stroke incidence. Eating greater amounts of meat was also found to increase cardiovascular disease in people aged 65+ in the U.S. And a large study in the UK followed participants’ consumption of processed meat for up to 30 years. It found that for each 50g increase (slightly less than 2 oz), risk of heart disease increased by 18%. In comparison, for unprocessed red meat, that 50g increase boosted heart disease risk by 9%. There was no clear link between eating poultry and cardiovascular disease risk.
Type 2 Diabetes. There was a large study in 2024 that included subjects from 20 different countries. Its findings suggest that greater consumption of unprocessed red meat, processed meat, and poultry increases risk for type 2 diabetes. However, controlled clinical trials have not shown a clear link. Still, the American Diabetes Association recommends eating patterns that emphasize seafood and plant proteins instead of red and processed meat. These include a Mediterranean-style eating pattern, a vegetarian diet, or plant-forward, lower-fat meal plans.
Colorectal Cancer. A 2022 study compared cancer risks of regular meat-eaters to low meat-eaters for 11 years. (Regular = people who eat meat, processed meat, and poultry more than five times per week. Low = those who eat meat products five or fewer times per week.) Compared to the regular meat-eaters, being a low meat-eater correlated with a lower risk of all cancers—including colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, both unprocessed red meat and processed meats likely cause cancer. And the risk increases with the amount of meat consumed.
[H2] Differences Between Red Meat and Processed Meat
Red meat refers to mammalian muscle meat, such as beef, lamb, pork, veal, venison, and goat. Processed meat has been salted, smoked, fermented, cured, or otherwise treated to flavor and preserve it. Examples of processed meats include hot dogs, deli meats of all kinds, sausages, canned meats, and ham.
Some of the health impacts of eating meat focus more on processed meat than red meat. This could be due to their higher salt content or the synthetic ingredients in processed meats, such as nitrates and nitrites. The Guiding Stars meat algorithm takes the presence of added sodium, added sugar, and additives like these into consideration. And it debits those products that include one or more of them.
[H2] Meeting Protein Needs With Less Meat
Men may be eating more protein than they really need. Most American adults meet the Recommended Dietary Allowance for protein, and males age 19 – 60 generally exceed that amount. What’s more, protein needs can be easily met with a combination of animal foods and plant foods. And this holds true even for those who might need more protein than the average person, such as athletes.
To get meat’s nutritional benefits without adding risk for chronic disease, mix up your protein sources and decrease meat overall. You don’t need to eliminate meat completely (unless you want to do so). Here are our top tips for being more choosy about the amount and types of meat on your plate:
When shopping for meat, prioritize whole-muscle meat and poultry instead of processed meat items.
Look for Guiding Stars-earning meat items to help you select the most nutritious options.
Reduce your red meat consumption gradually. Swap out one or two servings of meat per week with fish, seafood, and poultry instead.
Avoid buying fresh or frozen meat items that have added breading or include added solutions for weight-retention or flavoring.
Aim to have a couple of meatless dinners per week. There are plenty of plant proteins that are delicious, nutritious, and usually less pricey than meat. And Guiding Stars has lots of Star-earning, satisfying vegetarian recipes.