On the Newsy Side

ON THE NEWSY SIDE

PRICE CHOPPER has installed an iSave kiosk that dispenses coupons based on your past purchases. Shoppers simply have to scan their loyalty card at the store where they receive a paper of six to eight offers, based on their shopping history. Some of the offers are from manufacturers, while others are from the PRICE CHOPPER brand, to promote their own brand. Currently, about 75 brands are offered ; Some range from 25-cents to $1.00 off, as well as some free samples. GIANT EAGLE is using a new mobile application to reward consumers for buying eligible products. Shoppers who buy items featured in the “Kickbuys” program collect rewards that can be redeemed for gift cards at partner retailers, song downloads, movie tickets and other rewards. Eligible brands include Kraft Natural Shredded Cheese, Oreo Cookies, Ragu Sauce, Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Shaved Meats, Miracle Whip and Planters Nuts.

ON THE GREEN SIDE, Seventh Generation laundry detergent is using a product made of paper that uses 66% less plastic on its new Natural 4x laundry detergent. The recyclable and compostable bottle is made from 100% recyclable paper and cardboard and serves as an outer shell for the recyclable plastic pouch that holds the detergent. Once finished with the product, the user pops the shell open and separates the bag from the bottle for recycling. PROCTER & GAMBLE announced it will provide 100 million U.S. Households with educational materials highlighting the environmental benefits of cold-water washing. Their goal is to move 70% of all wash loads from hot/warm water to cold water by 2020. Since more than 80% of the energy used in washing comes from heating water, great benefits could be achieved by switching to products such as P&G's Tide Coldwater, formulated for cold-water conditions. P&G's concentrated powder and liquid detergents have helped reduce carbon emissions, energy usage, packaging waste and water. The new concentrated detergents require less product to clean the same number of loads as regular products, smaller containers or boxes , and less water used during manufacturing. Future Friendly products include Prilosec OTC, which P&G says has saved more than 700 tons of foil-based packaging materials, and Pantene Nature Fusion, which replaces a petroleum-derived packaging with plastics made from renewable plant-based materials, made from sugarcane. Other Future Friendly products will be introduced around Earth Day 2012.

PRICE CHOPPER SUPERMARKETS has added a glucose monitor to the list of free items for members of its diabetes management program. All those who join Diabetes AdvantEdge and fill a prescription get a free UltraTrak Pro blood glucose monitoring system. As a member, other free items include diabetes medications like Metformin, Glipizide and Glyburide. Patients filling diabetes-related prescriptions also receive free Price Chopper-brand ultra-thin lancets, auto-lancing devices, insulin syringes and pen needles. The company also launched a free diabetes shopping guide that can be downloaded from www.pricechopper.com. It includes information on which foods can help control diabetes, information on exercise and more.

 THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOC. has announced that three extra lean beef cuts meet the criteria for low saturated fat and cholesterol, set by the Food Certification Program. The three include Boneless top sirloin petite roasts, top sirloin filets and top sirloin kabobs. Those three cuts of meat can now display the AHA-s heart-check mark, which helps identify heart healthy foods throughout a supermarket.

DRINKING WATER AT THE CORRECT TIME maximizes its effectiveness on the Human body: Make sure to drink the following:

• 2 glasses of water after waking up to help activate internal organs
• 1 glass of water 30 minutes before a meal to help digestion
• 1 glass of water before taking a bath to help lower blood pressure
• 1 glass of water before going to bed to avoid a stroke or heart attack

 CONSUMERS should be able to make better buying decisions in the coming months, thanks to two new voluntary labels that will appear on U.S. products:

􀀁 “Nutrition Keys.” This icon will summarize important nutrition information from the Nutrition Facts Label and put the label on the front of the package. It will display calories, saturated fat, sodium and sugar per serving and tell you how each serving contributes to the overall diet based on recommended daily nutrition intake. For more information go to www.gmaonline.org.

􀀁 “USDA Certified Biobased Product” seal. This will identify products made from renewable resources composed completely or significantly of biological ingredients – renewable plant, animal, marine or forestry

materials. As products get certified, you’ll start seeing it on everything from trash bags and cleaning supplies to skin care products. Visit www.biopreferred.gov.

􀀁 The Department of Agriculture announced that nutrition labels will be required on meat and poultry beginning Jan.1, 2012. The labels will list calories, calories from fat, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, protein and vitamins for 40 commonly purchased cuts of beef, poultry, pork and lamb.

􀀁 Still to come: Requirements for chain restaurants and vending machine operators to post calorie information. Some restaurants (such as Subway) already make the information available.

PUREX recently introduced Purex Complete Crystals, a new fabric softener tha