Walmart’s “Great For You” Label Isn’t Bad!
Walmart unveiled its new front-of-package logo earlier this month to help customers identify healthy food choices. The new green “Great For You” logo is currently being used only on store-label products & fresh fruits and veggies; but the company plans to make it available to other manufacturers whose products meet Walmart’s criteria.
And – surprise, surprise – those criteria are relatively strict! It seems Walmart learned a thing or two from the last major industry attempt at front-of-package labeling – the ill-fated “Smart Choices” system. The list of products bearing the logo is limited to whole grains, whole grain products (bread, whole wheat pasta, non-sugary, high-fiber cereals), legumes, whole nuts, low fat/non-fat dairy products, fresh/no-salt-added canned veggies, fresh/canned/dried fruits, 100% fruit juices, eggs, olive/canola oils, and low-fat canned chicken/tuna.
Sure, I have a some quibbles with the list: I’ve never been a big fan of canned veggies or fruits (frozen veg/fruits are better); and even 100% fruit juices pack a lot of sugar. Nonetheless, it’s a pretty decent list, overall.
FWIW, I also have a quibble with the logo itself. It does a good (enough) job of IDing good choices, but it’s silent on the not-so-good ones. But perhaps this is a bit much to ask from an industry-led, voluntary effort – if Walmart developed a companion, red “Sucks For You” label, they’d have to stick it on the majority of the products in the grocery section… which probably wouldn’t be good for business.
So the “Great For You” label system isn’t perfect… but it’s certainly better than nothing! Overall, Walmart has done a decent job of identifying the best choices to be found in the grocery section aisles. Hopefully, its customers will find it useful.
February 22, 2012
Good for them. I hope in helps to make people choose better food items.
I second the “Sucks For You” label.lol