Hello! My name is Kate & I am the author behind TheWhatKateAteBlog. I am so excited to talk to you about Nuval! As an Iowa resident I am lucky enough to have regular access to one of the first nation-wide grocery stores to introduce the Nuval system in their aisles, Hyvee. Nuval is the new scoring system that ranks products on a scale from 1-100 based on it’s nutrition quality. Because I know so many of you aren’t yet within reach of a grocery store that uses Nuval yet, I thought a quick guide would help you better navigate your grocery store and give you some insight to what the numbers say about some of our favorite products!
Based on its number I categorized some of our favorite foods into different groups. Stock Up are products that scored the highest among their peers and are generally a good everyday choice. Trade Down are some of the worst scoring products of their kind, buy these less. MVP stands for Most Valued Product, look for this brand and appreciate its high nutritional value. And finally, Surprise Products are ones that caught me off guard either by having high or low Nuval scores.
Who likes Peanut Butter?
I know peanut butter is a staple in our house and luckily most brands of peanut butter score in the 20’s. Interestingly, the scores vary quite a bit from brand to brand, and depending on type (crunch or smooth) and whether or not they are reduced fat. Unfortunately, not all of the Peanut Butters were ranked and many of the favorite varieties of peanut butter are not sold at Hyvee. But if you are looking to spend a little bit less on peanut butter and like to stick to the conventional brands then this is for you!
Trade Down – Jif Reduced Fat: Although most of the Jif brands scored reasonably well their Reduced Fat variety was ranked one of the lowest in the whole aisle! This is a great example of why you should steer away from products that make health claims and direct your attention to more natural, whole foods!
Stock Up – Skippy Brand: All Skippy Brand Peanut Butters scored among the highest out of all the brands scoring 26’s across the board.
MVP – Smuckers All Natural: Smuckers has the most readable ingredient list and scored among the highest. Smuckers has my seal of approval!
Eating dairy everyday keeps the doctor away!
Yogurt is one of the most popular foods in the blog world, and is actually one of the most popular breakfast and snack items in the country. But, how does your favorite brand rank?
Trade Down – Overly flavored yogurts and yogurts with mix-ins: Be picky when it comes to your artificially flavored yogurts. If you are a fan, make sure you are reading the label and looking for protein and sugar content, as many of the yogurts in the dairy aisle are more suited for dessert than a healthy snack.
Stock Up – Fage and Oikos Plain 2% Greek Yogurt: It’s no surprise to most of you that full fat Greek yogurt is a nutritional powerhouse, but you may be surprised to know that flavored Greek yogurt can score extremely low.
Surprise Product – Weight Watchers Yogurts: Many of the Weight Watchers Brand yogurts score in the 90’s, basically flying in the face of everything I told you to Trade Down. If you enjoy sweetened, flavored regular yogurt venture to try this product, but like anything keep it in moderation!
MVP – Dannon All Natural Nonfat Yogurt Plain: This yogurt scored the highest out of all the other yogurts, even tying with plain Greek yogurt in the high 90’s. If you are trying to save money (and really who isn’t) or are looking to use plain yogurt as a condiment like sour cream, then choose Dannon!
Got milk?
The milk aisle is bursting with options and everyone has their preference from soy to rice to cow’s milk. A general rule to keep in mind is if it’s classified as Light or Fat Free, then the higher the Nuval ranking will be.
Trade Down – Silk Soy Light Chocolate (56); Almond Breeze Original (47); Rice Dream Original/Vanilla (52)
Stock Up – Almond Breeze Vanilla (90); Silk Soy No Sugar Added (91); 8th Continent Soy Light Vanilla (91): Take your pick! All 3 of these varieties are in the 90’s.
Surprise Product – 8th Continent Soy Light Chocolate (82): If you are craving a good chocolate milk that is not nutritionally void, here is your answer!
MVP – Organic Valley Nonfat Skim (91) is the best option for an all natural, organic cows milk.
Bars: the kind that you eat.
Everyone loves a good bar. They are easy to transport and easy to eat.
Trade Down – Clif Bars: Not a single Clif bar scored more than a 25. I wouldn’t say toss them completely out the picture, but I would circulate in other choices as well.
Stock Up – Luna Bar Toasted Nut (38); ThinkThin Chocolate Fudge (28): These two bars scored the highest within the brand and in comparison to some other kinds. They are definitely worth trying if you have not already!
MVP – Larabars: Of course, the Queen of all health bars generally scores in the 40s for all flavors.
Cereal Killers & Winners
Trade Down – Kashi Go Lean Crunch (33); Kashi Heart 2 Heart (29): I was saddened to see two of my favorite cereals, from one of my favorite companies to fall so short. Luckily, Kashi has two wonderful Stock Up options.
Stock Up – Kashi Go Lean (47); Kashi U (41)
MVP – Uncle Sam’s Original (59): This was the highest scoring cereal in the aisle, and one of the only ones I have yet to try!
Surprise Product – Puffins: Peanut Butter Puffins (24) were among the lowest ranking cereal, but the Cinnamon and Original scored a little bit higher at 29. A life without Puffins is not one I wish to live, its all about balance!
—
I hope you enjoyed this guide to some of your everyday items. If you would like any additional information regarding specific Nuval ratings of your favorite products, please feel free to let me know by visiting my blog at TheWhatKateAteBlog.wordpress.com or by emailing me at WhatKateAte!
Happy Eating!
Note: So far Hyvee has ranked about 10,000 items store-wide. Although they plan to have every product ranked, some of the most popular items you see in the blogosphere were not ranked as of this week. If you are dying to know the specific number of a certain product , whether it be Naturally More Peanut Butter or Kashi TLC Crunchy Granola Bars, let me know and I can periodically check!
Developed by an independent panel of nutrition and medical experts, the 
Thanks for the information on the cereals! So often we assume that because it comes from Kashi or Barbara’s Bakery or some other brand known for “health food,” that it must score high! Good to know that that is not always the case!
I drink Almond Breeze Vanilla (90) and 8th Continent Soy Light Vanilla (91)! I had no idea they scored so high. In fact, I thought they were probably in the 20’s. Good to know!
What a great guest post! I don’t have Nuval where I live so this was very helpful, thanks!
Not having access to a store with NuVal in Vancouver, I really enjoy seeing how things score, as well as everyone’s favorites.
Around my house we call that Uncle Sam’s cereal The Punishment Cereal.
Yeah, we didn’t like it much.
Hi Kate! I am the AVP of Health and Wellness at Hy-Vee and I am excited to hear that you have embraced NuVal and it is making a positive impact on your health. Post Health Classics Shredded Wheat and Bran has a NuVal score of 91. You may want to give that one a try!
I’d be interested to hear why Almond Breeze Vanilla scored so much higher than the original–nearly double! Does it have something else added (or removed) other than the vanilla flavoring? I only drink almond milk–I avoid dairy and soy for environmental and health reasons–and always buy the unsweetened/unflavored. Any feedback on why this is? Thanks!
@Katie (Sweet Tater): I think there was a mix-up of scores. The Almond Breeze Original scores an 81 while the Almond Breeze Vanilla scores a 47. It has twice as much sugar, so it scores lower. Sorry for the confusion!
Thanks for scoring some of my favorite foods! I was happy to see Larabars come out on top
Tina & Katie-
I was recently at Hyvee (the store that I got the stats from) and I asked them about some discrepencies that I had noticed in scores as well. They said that since the ratings are new to the store there is some stuff that is still being lost in translation but their goal is to have more consistency & of course every item ranked.
[...] Trading Up Downtown for my NuVal Quick Guide guest [...]
lol if you say so, heh
Hi and a large number of thanks for that comment you even now left on my blog, i’ve also bookmarked your online internet site and may return as i uncovered the details inside of your online page much like a pretty good supply to my pretty own pup regards Eddie