Grocer Offers In-Store Diabetes And Cholesterol Tours

The supermarket can be a paralyzing place. Even today, when I consider myself a fairly informed food shopper, I've stood before the thousands of products stocked and what makes it into the cart is generally based on brand recognition or how fancy the labels look. Even with the nutritional label printed on the packaging, numbers can be misleading and fail to account for hidden factors that could be detrimental to health.

Hy-Vee, an Iowa-based grocery chain with some 245-plus locations throughout the Midwest, is hoping to help shoppers navigate the overwhelming selection of products by offering guided nutrition tours.

The trade publication Progressive Grocer reports these free in-store tours will focus on products than can affect/aid three ailments: diabetes, high blood pressure, and cholesterol. Its diabetes course, for example (offered Mondays), will "focus on diabetes-friendly foods in every aisle, so consumers learn how choosing carbohydrates carefully can make a real difference."

Assuming this isn't some brand-sponsored ploy meant to drive customers to their products (and there's no reason to believe this is the case), all we can say about this, with all the sincerity in the world, is: "Oh, that's nice."