EVEN AS jambalaya, crawfish pie, and filé gumbo tempted some 14 000 cardiologists and other health professionals in New Orleans, La, during the American Heart Association's (AHA) 62nd Scientific Sessions, the organization was putting the final touches on a controversial food-rating program designed to make acquiring the family groceries an educational as well as health-enhancing task.
"HeartGuide" is the name of this AHA campaign (JAMA. 1989;262:1747, 2785; and JAMA. 1988;260:1192-1193). Its aim, according to Susanna L. Cunningham, PhD, chair of the HeartGuide Public Interest and Oversight Panel, its directing body, is "to fight heart disease, the number one killer of American men and women."
Cunningham says 114 products met the November 17 deadline for application to be included in the program's initial phase. (Supermarkets may stock 50 000 or more food products.) The first five categories to be evaluated are frozen dinners and entrées; shelf-stable and frozen vegetables; margarines and