Walmart’s New “Great For You” Icon

I’ve recently been given a very unique opportunity to help millions of Americans eat healthier foods at affordable prices and I’m very excited to share the news with all of you.

Walmart, the nation’s largest grocer, launched a five-year healthy foods initiative in 2011. Walmart committed to helping American families put healthy, affordable food on the dinner table each night. Their commitment is grounded in the idea that no family should ever have to choose between food that is healthier for them and food they can afford.

The program builds on the success of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign. Mrs. Obama has applauded Walmart’s commitment and recently visited a Walmart in Springfield, Missouri to celebrate the retailer’s progress in making food healthier, more affordable and available to consumers across the country.

During the first two years of Walmart’s commitment, the company has made it easier for customers to create healthier diets which ultimately helps them to live better lives.

Walmart’s healthier foods initiative has five key elements which include:

1. Improving the nutritional quality of Walmart’s Great Value brand and national brands by reducing sodium by 25%, added sugars by 10% and removing all industrially produced trans fats by the end of 2015.

Progress:

• Reduced sugars by more than 10% in items including dairy, sauces and fruit drinks.
• Reduced sodium by 9 percent in items including grain products, luncheon meats, and salad dressing. Partnering with the suppliers, Walmart has decreased sodium in the bread aisle by 13% by helping to eliminate more than 1.5 pounds of salt from the diets of Walmart shoppers, or 35 tractor trailer loads.
• The number of products containing industrially produced trans fats fell by 50%! Less than 10 percent of food and beverages sold at Walmart in 2011 contained industrially produced trans fats.

2. Create a front-of-package icon to help consumers easily and quickly identify healthier food options, such as whole grain cereal, whole wheat pasta, leans cuts of meat and low-fat milk.

Progress:

• Created Walmart’s “Great For You” icon which will appear on more than 1,300 Great Value and Marketside food and beverages in Walmart U.S. Stores.
• Evaluated more than 4,000 private brand products against the “Great For You” nutrition criteria with about 32% of fresh produce, meat and packaged items receiving the icon. Soon, the icon will be available to national brand products that meet the “Great For You” criteria and qualify for the icon.
• Developed rigorous nutrition criteria to back the “Great For You” icon using the latest nutrition science and authoritative guidance.

3. Save customers at least $1 billion a year on healthier food.

Progress:

• Walmart customers saved $1.2 billion on fresh fruits and vegetables in 2012.
• Combined with the $1.1 billion in savings in 2011, customers have saved $2.3 billion during the first two years of the program.

4. Increase Americans’ access to fresh, healthier and affordable food by opening between 275 and 300 new stores in urban and rural food desserts by the end of 2016.

Progress:

• Opened 86 new stores serving food deserts since 2011 to help serve customers in rural and urban areas.
• More than 264,000 people now have more options for fresh, healthier groceries.

5. Help all Americans better understand nutrition and healthier eating options by increasing charitable support for nutrition programs.

Progress:

• Since, 2011, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation have provided more than $26 million in grants to nutrition education. 

Wow! I am super impressed by the progress Walmart has already made within the first two years of their pledge. Since Walmart sells more groceries than any other company in the US, as a nutrition expert, I feel confident this will help Americans eat healthier and positively impact the health of these families.

I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to partner with Walmart by helping customers learn exactly how they can eat delicious and nutritious foods at affordable prices. Walmart has already done a lot of the work, I will get to show you how you can use “Great For You” products by sharing simple recipes that are quick, easy, and affordable. As a working mom of two young daughters, I understand the challenges of feeding a busy family, healthy meals on a budget. I will also be sharing other nutrition information and some of my favorite healthy food finds at Walmart! This will be a lot of fun and since my passion is helping people get healthy and fit, this will allow me to help a lot of Americans!

Follow me on Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook to make sure you get the latest recipes and nutrition information! Also, feel free to share with me your favorite healthy food finds at Walmart and be on the lookout for the “Great For You” icon while shopping to make it easier for you to make healthy and affordable choices.

Learn more about Walmart’s healthy food commitments.