5 things: Walmart’s play for wellness

Walmart isn’t playing about health foods: Walmart is steadily increasing its availability of better-for-you selections. This past year, the grocery giant launched its private label, Bettergoods, which focuses on healthier snacks, many without added sugars or dyes, along with multiple gluten-free and dairy-free options. The retailer also launched a new “Modern Soda” option, stocking its shelves with reduced-sugar drinks like Olipop, Poppi, Culture Pop, and Zevia. While many retailers previously had the sodas in the health foods aisle, Walmart’s move to situate them next to classic soda competitors has better-for-you soda execs excited about the potential increase in sales in a higher-traffic area. These moves come as Walmart expands its consumer base, with both price-conscious and higher-income households regularly making trips to the store. The grocer focuses on making healthy products more attainable, and shoppers are able to buy products at different price points, unlike specialty stores like Whole Foods, Sprouts, or Kings. With Walmart’s launch of these brands, health food and beverage companies have seen a massive increase in purchases across the market. —Ally MacConchie  

Why the woes of Walgreens (and CVS) matter: In an op-ed by the Chicago Tribune editorial board, the board writes that the ongoing financial woes of Walgreens and CVS indicates that the retail drugstore model is broken, “threatening an important fixture of the U.S. healthcare system that millions of Americans rely on.” Walgreens announced last month that it would shutter 1,200 underperforming stores, with potentially more on the way. In its most recent quarter, the retailer was losing money at the rate of a billion dollars per month. Yike. CVS hasn’t fared much better in terms of finances, store closures, and layoffs, and Rite Aid also just emerged from bankruptcy in September. The Tribune board is calling on the new presidential administration to do something—the health of millions of Americans, they say, can’t be ignored. —Chloe Riley

Ultraprocessed foods live to die another day: A committee of 20 leading U.S. nutrition scientists has declined to make a recommendation regarding ultraprocessed foods, a category that includes sodas and processed meats. The committee’s recommendations will be considered for the next edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which are scheduled to publish by the end of 2025. Ultraprocessed foods have been linked to obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, gut conditions, depression, and more, but the committee had concerns about the 41 studies they reviewed, saying many were decades out of date and conducted outside of the United States. The committee did advocate for diets featuring vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, low-fat or non-fat dairy products, and fish or seafood, and recommended limiting processed meats and beverages with sugar. —Leigh Anne Zinsmeister

The cost of the election: Sound the trumpets—America will have a different leader come January. But in the end, we may be listening to a sad trombone when it comes to grocery prices. Many voted for former President Donald Trump due to inflationary pain, citing high grocery prices, with the hope that he would somehow reverse high prices. But in a New York Times op-ed this week, Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman writes that Trump’s apocalyptic approach at dealing with undocumented migrants could lead to higher grocery bills as farms and meat-packing plants will be hurting for workers. Krugman said about three-quarters of the workers in agriculture are undocumented, and he estimates up to 50% of the meat-packing workforce are not living in the U.S. legally. Replacements will come at a higher price, which will be passed on to the consumer. Womp, womp. —Bill Wilson 

And will Trump cut grocery prices? The short answer (see above) is no. At least, not yet. But that hasn’t kept the internet from claiming so. According to a recent post on Snopes, a rumor spread far and wide on social media claiming that Kroger, Food Lion, and Publix decided to cut prices by 4% due to the election of Donald Trump. “Kroeger [sic], Food Lion, and Publix all announced a 4% price cut across the board. He’s already making a difference,” the post claimed. The misspelling of Kroger might have been a dead giveaway for some that the claim was false, but the post still got some 1,300-plus reactions and was shared across social sites like Facebook. Snopes claims the false rumor was started by America’s Last Line of Defense (ALLOD) network of Facebook pages and websites, which includes sites like “Reagan Was Right” and “America - Love It Or Leave It.” It’s not the first falsehood ALLOD has posted, which include racist claims about packaging. —Tim Inklebarger