New Grocery Shopping Guide Helps Families Navigate Supermarket and Make Smarter Choices

To help families balance their desire to eat well while watching their wallet, the makers of the Hormel(R) Natural Choice(R) line of 100 percent natural meats have teamed up with Registered Dietitian Patricia M. Bannan to create the "Shop Smart, Live Well: Value Without Compromise" guide to help shoppers navigate the often confusing supermarket to find healthful and high-quality foods that don't break the bank.

"Grocery shopping can be a real challenge when you're trying to buy wholesome foods for a good value," said Registered Dietitian Patricia M. Bannan. "But it's easy to find nutritious, great tasting and, above all, affordable products once you know where to look and how to save. Our new Hormel(R) Natural Choice(R) "Shop Smart, Live Well" guide helps families do just that by teaching them how to sharpen and smarten their grocery shopping game."

The "Shop Smart, Live Well" guide offers tips on how to:

-- Decipher various product claims;

-- Identify natural products in the supermarket;

-- Make simple, smart shopping choices;

-- Trade costly, unhealthy snacks for healthier, more affordable options;

-- Live the "Shop Smart, Live Well" philosophy both in and out of the supermarket; and

-- Create delicious, all-natural recipes the whole family can enjoy.

The survey also found that nearly nine in ten (88 percent) Americans feel it's important for the ingredient list on food they buy to be easy to understand. To help shoppers find products with simple, easy to understand ingredient lists, the guide also provides a tutorial on how to read nutrition labels and find products that embrace simplicity and wholesomeness. In addition, the guide includes fun ways parents can involve their kids in the grocery shopping process so they can learn the importance of healthy eating at a young age.

When seeking out products with the most value - nutritious, budget friendly, flavorful and convenient - Hormel(R) Natural Choice(R) meats allow parents to have it all without sacrifice. Great tasting Hormel(R) Natural Choice(R) meats have zero preservatives and are 100 percent natural, with no artificial colors or flavors and no added nitrites or nitrates, and they cost about the same as their non-natural counterparts. The meats are also gluten free with no MSG added and are low in fat and trans fat free. Varieties include premium deli sandwich meats, Applewood smoked dinner ham, carved chicken breast, bacon, Canadian bacon, pepperoni, pork loin filet and new in 2009, rotisserie style chicken breast deli meat.

Shoppers can find the "Shop Smart, Live Well" guide on the Hormel(R) Natural Choice(R) Web site at http://www.hormelnatural.com. While on the site, families can also find more flavorful and nutritious recipes and additional healthy-living tips.

About Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer-branded food and meat products, many of which are among the best known and trusted in the food industry. The company leverages its extensive expertise, innovation and high competencies in pork and turkey processing and marketing to bring quality, value-added brands to the global marketplace. In each of the past ten years, Hormel Foods was named one of "The 400 Best Big Companies in America" by Forbes magazine. The company enjoys a strong reputation among consumers, retail grocers, foodservice and industrial customers for products highly regarded for quality, taste, nutrition, convenience and value. For more information, visit http://hormelfoods.com.

About Patricia M. Bannan

Patricia M. Bannan, M.S., R.D., is a Los Angeles-based registered dietitian specializing in nutrition and health communications. Passionate about helping children and adults implement easy steps to improve their lives, Bannan's creative and doable health messages reach six million people each day through the in-school and corporate wellness programs of Health-E-tips, Inc. Bannan helps develop strategic platforms and oversees tactical execution for health professional, consumer and media outreach programs. Bannan received a Masters of Science in nutrition communication from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts.

*About the Survey

This Hormel(R) Natural Choice(R) survey was conducted by Kelton Research between May 1st and May 8th 2009, among 1,000 U.S. adults ages 18 and over.

(C)2009 Hormel Foods Sales, LLC

SOURCE: Hormel Foods Corporation

Hormel Foods Corporation 
Julie H. Craven, 507-437-5345 
or 
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Stephanie M. Kieras, 312-596-3506