Walmart Inc. plans to remove synthetic dyes from its US store-brand food products by January 2027, joining other major consumer companies that have made similar pledges after pressure from the Trump administration.
The world’s largest retailer will also eliminate 30 other ingredients, including some artificial sweeteners, fat substitutes and preservatives. The reformulation applies to all food and beverages of Walmart’s US in-house brands — spanning cereal and snacks to salad dressings and sports drinks — with the first altered products debuting in the coming months.
“We know the customer is continuously looking for greater transparency in their products, simplification and easy-to-read ingredient decks,” Scott Morris, senior vice president of private brands, food and consumables at Walmart US, said in an interview.
The move by Walmart as the nation’s largest food seller will likely push competitors to follow suit. The retailer’s Great Value line is the largest private label food brand in the US, with nearly 90% of American households as customers, according to researcher NIQ. Such retailer-owned brands have become increasingly important as shoppers hunt for bargains following years of high inflation coming out of the pandemic.