New Plan Reduces Sodium, Sugar and Eliminates Trans Fat in Foods by 2015
Wal-Mart announced this week they plan to stock grocery shelves with less sodium, less sugar, and no trans fat…
The corporate giant aims to reduce sodium by 25 percent and added sugars by 10 percent in its own products within the next five years.
In marketing their new healthy line of products, the company will design new packaging to help consumers identify items that include whole grains, fewer preservatives, and lower sodium, fat, and sugar content.
Not only that, but Wal-Mart will be cutting prices for produce and these healthier foods…
Wal-Mart unveiled their health food makeover yesterday in conjunction with First Lady Michelle Obama, whose Let’s Move! initiative aims to solve the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation, focusing on making healthy food accessible and affordable (especially to children and in school meal programs), promoting making healthy choices, and education in nutrition and the importance of an active lifestyle.
Wal-Mart also pledged on Thursday to look to build stores in neighborhoods that lack choices for fresh food and produce, and to donate more to national nutrition programs.
Wal-Mart’s announcement has been met with both accolades for efforts to improve access to whole foods and more affordable produce, and criticism for what the conglomerate’s reduction of produce ultimately means for farmers and local-grown farmer’s markets.
Elizabeth McVay Greene of the Huffington Post had this to say:
Using fresh food as a loss leader is ludicrous as a solution to getting more fruits and vegetables into the mouths of Americans. In fact, it misses the mark entirely and potentially has harmful repercussions for the quality and amount of fresh food available to us.
You can read her post in its entirety here.
The Atlantic posed questions of its own in its coverage of the announcement:
Even the most strident public health advocates cautiously welcomed Walmart’s plan, announced yesterday, to slash produce prices and reformulate its private-label processed foods to cut sodium and added sugars.
Still, on and off the record, they worried. Where were the details about the discounted produce? Did the company really need five years to reformulate packaged foods? Would the cuts — 25 percent on sodium and 10 percent of added sugars — be enough?
What’s your take on Wal-Mart’s efforts?
Will it ultimately improve the nutrition — or least health awareness — for consumers?
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