The supermarket chain Aldi has made another huge move to reach out to its consumers, especially the health conscious ones. Following the footsteps of some restaurants and food chains, Aldi has decided to remove artificial ingredients in all its branded products by the end of year.
As reported by Fox News, Aldi supermarket has pledged to remove hydrogenated oils, artificial colors and added MSG across its branded products by the end of the year.
The retailer was reported to begin the move to go artificial-free last 2014 and by fall of this year, customers are expected to see these reformulated product lines across the shelves of their stores.
CEO Jason Hart said in a statement, "Since more than 90 percent of the products we sell are under our exclusive brands, eliminating these ingredients will have a real impact on the over 30 million people who shop in our stores."
In recent years, Aldi supermarket has increased its healthy selection of organic produce. Aldi supermarket has also introduced its own brand, SimplyNature which is reported to be free of more than 125 ingredients which consumers have spoken out against.
"Our decision to remove these ingredients from all of our exclusive brand foods delivers on our ongoing commitment to meet the evolving preferences of our customers", Hart added.
The German-based supermarket has approximately 1,400 stores in the United States. Most of the products sold in the supermarket are their own private-label items to keep its prices low. Aside from this, they also offer no counter service which means each store has only three to five employees working at a time. It even requires a $0.25 deposit to use their shopping cart which will be returned after you use them.
Removing these ingredients can make shopping simpler for many parents, especially for parents whose children have autism, FASD or ADHD as they need to be more diligent with their children's diet. It is good to hear that more food establishments have acknowledged this problem and has decided to offer healthier options. Restaurants like Chipotle and Panera have pledged to do likewise. General Mills was also reported to remove artificial ingredients earlier this year. Aldi supermarket's decision to remove artificial ingredients across its stores could be a start that other supermarkets could also follow.
