Pink Lady apples earn three Guiding Stars

Now entering its second decade of providing crisp quality and distinctive flavor to apple lovers around the world, the Pink Lady Brand Apple has earned a coveted three Guiding Stars for offering 'the best nutritional value' based on the Guiding Stars objective food-rating system.

"Because of the well-known nutritional aspects of apples, we’ve been busy establishing partnerships with a number of groups focused on healthy products," says Alan Taylor, marketing director of Pink Lady America LLC.

"Our association with Guiding Stars is beneficial for a number of reasons, but especially because of its rigorous criteria as an objective food rating system."

Designed as a simple, at-a-glance alternative to reading, comparing and decoding nutrition labels for consumers, the Guiding Stars program helps consumers quickly identify more nutritious food choices at the supermarket, public school lunchrooms and college dining halls.

The system rates more than 100,000 fresh, packaged and prepared foods based purely on their nutrient density using a scientific algorithm that incorporates current dietary guidelines and recommendations of leading national and international health organizations, including the U.S. FDA, USDA, the World Health Organization and more. Guiding Stars’ objective ratings take into account vitamin, mineral, dietary fiber and whole grain content, as well as the presence of fats, cholesterol, added sugar and added sodium. Price and brand are not considered in the evaluation of foods.

Rated foods are then marked with easy-to-follow tags indicating 0, 1, 2 or 3 stars, making it quick and easy for consumers to evaluate food choices. The more nutritional value a food has, the more Guiding Stars it receives. Foods that don’t meet the Guiding Stars criteria receive zero stars.

"Apples are nutritious and easy on-the-go snacks that earn three Guiding Stars for being rich in fiber and Vitamin C, and containing virtually no sodium or fat," said John Eldredge, director of brand and business development for Guiding Stars. "We’re very pleased to add the Pink Lady variety to our rating system and online Food Finder."

"Being rated by Guiding Stars is great news for our 220 Pink Lady Brand Growers," Taylor says. "It provides a substantial boost to that part of the Pink Lady program regularly touting the healthful aspects of their apples!"

Pink Lady growers produce more than four million boxes of apples per year, mostly in Washington State.

The Guiding Stars program is now available in 1,700 supermarkets in North America, as well as numerous in public schools, colleges, hospitals and corporate cafeterias. For more information about the Guiding Stars program, visit www.guidingstars.com.

For more information please visit www.pinkladyamerica.org.