Built on the back of its ubiquitous retail operation, Walmart has become the largest grocer in the U.S. That position carries with it a certain responsibility, and Walmart is rising to the occasion. The company, for example, has been publicly acknowledged by the first lady, Michelle Obama, for its work in helping to encourage healthy eating and fight childhood obesity.

As we noted here earlier, Walmart's latest entry into the nutritional battlefield is a product labeling strategy it calls "Great for You." As the company explains, this "nutrition icon" will begin appearing this spring on foods that "meet rigorous nutrition criteria informed by the latest nutrition science and authoritative guidance from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Institute of Medicine (IOM)."

At first, the green "Great for You" labels, depicting a non-descript person with arms raised, will appear only on products within Walmart's own brands, Great Value and Marketside. Walmart claims, however, that it will allow other brands to make use of the label on products adhering to the same criteria with no licensing fee. In theory, this would help level the playing field between Walmart branded products and other brands sitting on Walmart shelves. But does it?Continue reading...

Grape Nuts, Honeycomb, Shredded Wheat, Raisin Bran, and plenty of other cereals have been starting Americans' days for a long time, no matter who has owned them. 

Since 2008, it has been St. Louis-based Ralcorp Holdings. Inc., a manufacturer of private-label goods for US grocery stores including Stop & Shop, IGA and Hannaford, which produces cereals in its Ralston Foods division.

Ralcorp bought the organization from Kraft Foods for $2.7 billion. Now, Ralcorp finds itself the target of an unwanted takeover attempt by ConAgra Foods, which has offered $4.9 billion, according to FoodProcessing.com.Continue reading...