In a Feb. 20 blog post, Mary Ellen Burris, senior vice president, consumer affairs for Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans Food Markets, notes that the retailer “is making good on a resolution created in January 2011,” taking a systematic approach to making Wegmans Brand products ever better. The methodical review of products, category by category, has several goals, including using the National Sodium Reduction Initiative benchmarks to evaluate sodium levels, increasing whole grains, removing partially hydrogenated fats and high-fructose corn syrup, minimizing sugar when possible and finding alterative suppliers to those from China.

Thus far, Wegmans has made changes to 245 store brand items, Burris writes. Almost 50 of the products — such as select broths and canned soups — now have a lower sodium content. Asian Sauces also boast a lower sodium content, as are gluten-free, vegan and Kosher.

Wegmans reduced the sodium and removed HFCS from its raisin bran and crunchy raisin bran, meanwhile, while giving the products more fiber and iron, Burris notes. Thin wheat crackers, honey graham crackers and cinnamon graham crackers got also have less sodium, more whole grains and no HFCS; both graham varieties also have re-oriented inner packs that reduce breakage. And potato chips are now gluten-free.

Burris adds that Wegmans has made many other changes, “all for the better,” with many more to come.