Wal-Mart food plan a noble idea

Enlisting the food industry in a campaign for healthier diets is a promising approach to changing how Americans eat. So Wal-Mart Stores' decision to reduce the sodium, sugar and transfats in products it sells is a big deal.

Wal-Mart is the nation's largest grocer. With 4,300 domestic outlets, including 114 in New York, it's got market muscle that could prompt others to follow its lead.

Its initiative includes plans to make fruits and vegetables more affordable, to reduce the higher prices of healthier packaged foods, and to open more stores in underserved communities. It may be a marketing strategy, but Wal-Mart's approach is better than government mandates or punitive taxes.

The company's plan is to reformulate products in its own Great Value brand by 2015, and work with suppliers to do the same for national brands. The goal is to cut sodium in items such as lunch meats and frozen entrees by 25 percent, and sugar added to sauces and fruit drinks by 10 percent.

That should help save lives and health care dollars, especially if Wal-Mart can make its good-for-you foods taste good. Phasing the changes in slowly should help acclimate customers' taste buds. That's important. The most effective changes are likely be those that diners don't notice. hN