Jeanne Marie Maglione’s days are like any other registered dietician’s. She counsels clients about their nutrition, designs diet programs, and gives out recipes and menus. It’s her office that’s unusual—she works in the new 70,000-square-foot ShopRite in New Rochelle as its corporate dietician. And did we mention that most of her services are free? We caught up with Maglione to find out how she can help with our supermarket baskets.
What made ShopRite decide to put a registered dietician in the store? Our philosophy is that wellness starts in the supermarket, with the food that we eat and the nutrients we get. We need to put more emphasis on prevention wellness. Being in the supermarket is also a good way to capture an audience. It’s a great place to help people. We’re the first line of defense.
What kinds of services do you provide? We do store tours, where we take customers around and show them how to shop the perimeter of a store, how to read labels, and how to make healthy choices. We teach them about our LiveRite products, which are color-coded and specially designed for different diets, including fat-free, low-carb, low-sodium, or gluten-free diets. We also do in-store cooking demonstrations and food-tastings. We’ve highlighed Mediterranean diets in the past. If someone wants more guidance, we can do individual counseling. We can customize diets depending on whether or not someone wants to lose weight, lower his or her cholesterol, live with diabetes, or just plan meals for families. And all of this is free.
What’s the biggest mistake that people make at the supermarket? They don’t plan their meals and prepare to have healthy snacks on hand for their kids. They don’t make a shopping list or look for coupons before they shop.
So do we have to cut out ice cream entirely? I live by the ninety/ten rule. If you can be healthy ninety percent of the time, and then indulge for the last ten percent, you’re doing pretty good.
