Do you get confused by all the hype you see on products in the supermarket?

"No cholesterol," reads your bag of baby carrots. "Fat-free," boasts the sign above the broccoli. "Made with whole grains," declares your kids' favorite sugary cereal.

Of course, carrots lack cholesterol. Cholesterol is mostly found in animal fats, and barring any serious genetic manipulation, your carrots shouldn't contain animal fats. Broccoli, along the same lines, is naturally fat free. And we know that just because something is made with whole grains doesn't mean that it's good for you. (Check out the sugar content on those sweet breakfast cereals!)

So how are we supposed to know what to believe and what to write off as just a clever marketing ploy?

Soon, a quick glance at a single number could simplify the supermarket search for healthy foods.

Yale University's Griffin Prevention Research Center has developed the Overall Nutritional Quality Index, which will start to appear on supermarket shelf tags in September. These gastronomic cheat sheets assign foods a score of 1-100, based on nutrients, vitamins, sugar, salt, plus impact on blood pressure and other health concerns.

The higher the score, the more nutritious a food is. The lower the score, the worse a food is for you. If you have specific dietary concerns, the numbers won't be as helpful, but for those of us who are just trying to eat better, these numbers can help.

Broccoli, not surprisingly, tops the list with a rank of 100, along with oranges, blueberries, spinach and strawberries. Nonfat milk gets a 91, and Atlantic salmon gets an 87. Ground beef (75% lean) gets a 25, a plain bagel is a 23 and a hot dog gets a 5. Diet soda gets a 15. Regular soda gets a 1, leaving it at the bottom of the heap, along with popsicles and taffy.

Check out how some of your favorite foods measure up.

Not all supermarkets will adapt the rankings next month, but according to the Griffin Center, expect to see more stores posting info in coming months. (Tell us if you see these tags!) Talk to your supermarket manager to see whether your store will add the info to its shelf tags. The Griffin Center hopes the "NuVal" system will include 40,000 common supermarket food items (and be used in all U.S. markets) by September 2009.

For more information on the Overall Nutritional Quality Index, visit the Griffin Center website. (While you're there, take the quiz on nutrition labels!) Meanwhile, I'll be snacking on some pretzel sticks (11) and pistachios (70).

(And once we have more info on the specifics of the supermarket tags, I'll share those, too!)

Photo: from ONQI Web site