Walmart Store_ the world's largest retailer

If you cannot figure out which foods at Wal-Mart are healthy for you, Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, will make it obvious by placing its new 'Great for You' label right on the package.

Wal-Mart's New 'Great for You' Label for Healthy Foods

The world's largest retailer said it is reducing the fat, sugar and sodium in many of its private-label foods and will more aggressively market other healthy grocery items April onwards. Wal-Mart will also label foods that meet certain nutritional criteria with an icon that says 'Great for You'. Foods that meet its health criteria, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, will get the icon, reported a food and beverage magazine.

It is quite unsurprising that these 'Great for You' label foods make up only a tiny fraction of the foods the world's largest retailer actually sells.

Wal-Mart's 'Great for You' Label

But you have to give them struts for progress.

The green and white seal, which shows the stylized outline of a human figure with its arms spread toward the sky, is the icon for 'Great for You' label. It is part of a multiyear campaign undertaken by the world's largest retailer to promote healthier products and fight childhood obesity.

Andrea Thomas, senior vice president of sustainability at Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer told a business magazine, "Moms are telling us they want to make healthier choices for their families but need help deciphering all the claims and information already displayed on products."

On which foods will Wal-Mart's 'Great for You' label go?

Wal-Mart will put the new label on select products that meet defined criteria in its Great Value and Marketside lines.

Walmart's new labels will go on fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains, high-fiber, low-fat dairy products, seeds, nuts and lean meats. The label limits the amount of total saturated and trans-fats, added sugars and sodium levels a product can contain.

Customers will begin to see the new label on products starting in the spring.

There are quite a lot of foods that distinctly qualify for the symbol 'Not-Great-for-You' foods. Cholesterol-rich eggs, salty canned vegetables and salt-water-injected fresh meat and poultry, nutrient-poor apple and grape juice, and grain foods that contain much more refined white flour than whole grain fall under this category.

Wal-Mart's 'Great for You' Label will Help Customers Make Quick and Healthy Choices

Lona Sandon, an assistant professor of clinical nutrition at University of Texas Southwestern and a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics said, "People already have the information they need on the food label. Just turn the box around and take a look at the Nutrition Facts Panel. You do not need a special rating system to tell you that fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean meats are good for you."

But the world's largest retailer believes its "Great for You" label will make it easier for customers to find these healthy gems.

Leslie Dach, executive vice president of corporate affairs at the world's largest retailer said, "Wal-Mart's effort to bring healthier food to kitchen tables nationwide was inspired by our customers and informed by the latest food science and policy."

"It helps customers see very, very quickly what healthier choices are for them," Andrea Thomas, senior vice president of sustainability for Wal-Mart Stores, said Monday in a conference call with new agencies.

Wal-Mart's 'Great for You' criteria will be illustrated at www.walmartgreatforyou.com and allow all-natural foods, as well as foods without added sugar or too much fat, including fresh fruits and vegetables and items such as whole wheat pasta and low-fat dairy products.