NORTH QUINCY, Mass. -- Shoppers at one supermarket chain now have star power.

NewsCenter 5's Jim Boyd reported that Hannaford Supermarkets are using new movie-style ratings to guide shoppers toward more nutritious choices.

"An item with three stars has less added sugar, less added sodium and higher vitamins and minerals," said Hannaford store manager John Frontiero.

The Maine-based supermarket chain took two years to develop the so-called Guiding Stars System. Hannaford now places stars about 23 percent of the products on its shelves. One star denotes a product of good nutritional value, two stars is better, three stars is best.

Hannaford will officially debut the system this weekend, but already customers said it beats having to read product labels.

"I think it's wonderful. I really do. It's saved me a lot of time," said shopper Terry Kelley.

Several products, such as water, teas, juices and other items with fewer than 5 calories do not have star ratings. The system does not count calories and does not take price into consideration. The store said the stars are there only to rate nutritional value.

"When a child is looking for a cereal, the mother can look at the child and say, "It doesn't have a star,'" said Frontiero.

"I think it's a great idea, because it is hard to know how to decipher the labels that they give you and the sugar. So I think it'll be great. I have three little boys, and I want them to have good nutrition, so it sounds great," said shopper Maureen Conneely.