New nutrition labels may help consumers make healthier choices
By Kate Lunau - Monday, March 12, 2012 - 0 Comments
But confusing portion sizes and calorie counts could do with some clarifying
Photograph by Andrew Tolson
Scanning the shelves at Loblaw’s grocery stores, shoppers might notice a change to the President’s Choice line: labels that adorn Blue Menu products, its healthier options, are newly redesigned. On the box of Fibre First cereal, two green arrows sit next to the Blue Menu logo. One points up, indicating it’s “very high in fibre”; the other points down, and says it’s “low in fat.” On Blue Menu Angus burgers, a down arrow indicates reduced fat (compared to regular ones). The whole range of products is now marked with these arrows. It’s a small tweak, but Loblaw is hoping new labels will make it easier for consumers to make healthier choices, if they’re so inclined. Those arrows “put the product’s nutritional benefits front and centre,” says Al Lindsay, vice-president of brand marketing.
In Canada, most foods must be marked with a nutrition facts table (that little black-and-white box that shows how many calories and nutrients are in one portion) and an ingredients list. But research shows that consumers spend just four to 10 seconds choosing products at the grocery store, and many won’t bother deciphering these labels. At fast food restaurants, where single meals can pack enough calories for the entire day, it can be hard to get any detailed information at point of sale—especially with a line of hungry people waiting. According to biomedical anthropologist Leslie Sue Lieberman, we need to do a better job of making calories “visible” through food labels. This is necessary because it’s harder than ever to tell what we’re eating.
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Loblaw’s chief: Farmers’ markets will kill
By Richard Warnica - Wednesday, February 8, 2012 at 9:52 AM - 0 Comments
Galen Weston, the cherubic executive chairman of Loblaw, Canada’s largest grocery chain, has earned…
Galen Weston, the cherubic executive chairman of Loblaw, Canada’s largest grocery chain, has earned the ire of Canadian foodies by suggesting some forms of fresh food may actually be fatal. From the Toronto Star:
“Farmers’ markets are great. . . ,” Weston said Tuesday during a speech to about 600 people at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, but added: “One day they’re going to kill some people though.”
Weston, who added that he was “just saying that to be dramatic,” was talking about the need for uniform food-inspection standards. That will, of course, mollify local-food advocates who are known above all for being reasonable and not at all prone to exaggeration or hysteria.
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A tale of two supermarkets
By Jacob Richler - Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 12:40 PM - 0 Comments
Galen Weston Jr.’s Loblaw should take a lesson from a Metro Plus in Magog, Que.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RACHEL GRANOFSKY
Three weeks ago I found myself shopping at the sprawling Metro Plus supermarket in the lakeside town of Magog, Que. As at so many other supermarkets these days, banners fluttered overhead affirming the store’s commitment to local producers. What was odd was that the shelves and racks below made good on the promise.
The produce section was flooded with local seasonal finest, from beefsteak tomatoes to sweet corn, shallots and ground cherries. An entire wall at the centre of the store flaunted Quebec products from mustard and honey to vinegar and chocolate. Breakfast alone involved a choice of no fewer than three local artisanal bacons, and for eggs, a selection that ran to an intriguing new variety called les matinaux (early birds), which according to the box have been hatched not by the usual tired old hens, but by fresh, barely legal ones, on the job for not a day over five months—guaranteed.
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Breaking speculation: Could Weston buy up Loblaw?
By Duncan Hood - Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 11:48 AM - 1 Comment
George Weston Ltd. has just announced that its subsidiary Dunedin Holdings is in discussions…
George Weston Ltd. has just announced that its subsidiary Dunedin Holdings is in discussions with Mexico’s Grupo Bimbo (okay, settle down, it’s not that funny) to sell off its bread and baked goods business. This follows hot on the heels of the sale of Weston’s Neilson Dairy division to Saputo Inc.
Exciting stuff, but the buzz we’re hearing from sources on Bay St. is even more exciting: Some are speculating that Weston is raising cash so that it can buy up the outstanding shares of Loblaw Companies Ltd. and take it private.
Wouldn’t that be a smart idea? After all, Loblaw is pretty cheap right now.
We have no confirmation yet that this is indeed what’s happening, but something is up: Shares of Loblaw have surged up by almost 10 per cent in the last hour and a half. Stay tuned…
