Whole Foods looks to educate parents this back-to-school season

Youngsters may be hitting the books again as school resumes, but parents are looking for faster and easier ways to learn about what goes into the foods they buy for their families.

That’s what a recent poll conducted by the Harris Group on behalf of Whole Foods Market showed. A strong majority (87%) of parents with children under the age of 18 say they are concerned about the ingredients in their children's foods, and report spending an average of 27.2 minutes each week reading food labels and/or thinking about the ingredients in their children’s food.

With that in mind, and based on other research showing that shoppers worry less about ingredients when shopping at a retailer they believe has high ingredient standards, Whole Foods is launching a back-to-school educational campaign. The natural foods chain has tapped nutritionist and author Kelly LeVeque to help raise awareness of its own quality standards for ingredients and sourcing, which have been upheld and enhanced for decades.

The awareness campaign includes messaging on Whole Foods Markets’ social media pages, which will features information on its quality standards and reminding parents its products are free from high-fructose corn syrup and more than 150 other unhealthy food ingredients.

“At Whole Foods Market, we believe that customers should know where their food comes from, how it’s grown and what ingredients are used,” said Jamie Yael Katz, senior advisor, quality standards at Whole Foods Market. “As a parent myself, I know how much mental energy can go into choosing food for our kids. Parenting proudly and eating joyfully is much easier and less time-consuming when you know that your grocer has done the ingredient homework for you.”

This article appeared at ProgressiveGrocer.com.