Information updated April 2024

WHOLE FOODS INGREDIENTS ARE CHANGING: Since its acquisition of Whole Foods in 2017, Amazon has made ingredient changes to Whole Foods 365 branded products, adding more ingredients we would never use at home and deleting high quality and expensive ingredients such as real Vanilla Extract.

Here are four examples of changes the Ingredient Inspector has noted . . .

1. WHOLE FOODS 365 ORGANIC MACARONI & CHEESE NOW CONTAINS MORE INGREDIENTS WHICH ARE NOT IN KITCHEN. Compared to the ingredients in 2020, Whole Foods 365 Organic Macaroni & Cheese ingredient profile in 2024 is farther from homemade. The product still contains the same three ingredients Not In Kitchen™ which it previously contained — Citric Acid (FDA-recognized Preservative), Organic Annatto Extract (added for color) and Added Natural Flavor — but now it also has two types of Organic Maltodextrin, Silicon Dioxide, Lactic Acid, Sodium Phosphate, Organic Gum Arabic and Organic Expeller-Pressed Sunflower Seed Oil. (Source: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 6/20 and 4/24)

2. AMAZON REDUCED THE AMOUNT OF CREAM AND PECANS IN WHOLE FOODS 365 BUTTER PECAN ICE CREAM. In 2020, the first ingredient in Whole Foods 365 Butter Pecan was Pasteurized Cream and now it is Pasteurized Milk. Pecans have moved down the list of ingredients indicating there are now fewer pecans. The inclusions of Natural Flavors has also increased from one inclusion to two.

Ingredients are always listed in descending order of amount >> there is the most amount of the ingredient listed first and the least amount of the ingredient listed last.

3. AMAZON REMOVED THE REAL ORGANIC ALMONDS IN WHOLE FOODS 365 ORGANIC HONEY NUT MORNING O’s: In 2018, Whole Foods Organic Honey & Nut Morning O’s — below left —contained real Organic Almonds. In 2019, Amazon reduced the amount of real Almonds and then eliminated them completely in 2021. (Source: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 1/18, 2/19, 5/21, 9/22 and 4/24)

On the package for this cereal, Amazon states, “The best ingredients should be the standard, not the exception”. Meanwhile, the ingredients for this Honey Nut cereal do not include Almonds, just the flavor of Almonds.

4. AMAZON REMOVED THE REAL ORGANIC VANILLA EXTRACT IN WHOLE FOODS 365 VANILLA WAFERS: In 2012, Whole Foods 365 Organic Vanilla Wafers contained real Organic Vanilla Extract. After the Amazon acquisition, the real Organic Vanilla Extract was changed in 2019 to Organic Vanilla Flavor. Now, these cookies contain Organic Natural Flavors. (Source: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 2/19, 9/20, 9/22 and 4/24)

The irony is that these Amazon Organic Vanilla Wafers now contain commercial Natural Flavors which is an ingredient previously criticized by then independently-owned Whole Foods as being “not transparent”.

In 2012, the Major National Brand of Vanilla Wafers was denigrated by Whole Foods for using '“natural flavors” as an ingredient. Then independently-owned Whole Foods stated the use of “natural flavors” is “not transparent”.

The post from 2012 where Whole Foods cites ingredient superiority of their Organic Vanilla Wafers is actually still up (for now, anyway >> please let me know if the link does not work bc that means Amazon finally realized the conflict).

Today, Natural Flavors are commonly added to Whole Foods 365 products. Many Whole Foods 365 products which were Closest To Homemade — contain ingredients closest to those we would use at home — have been removed from the list due the inclusion of commercial Natural Flavors.

Discover food + beverages whose ingredients are Closest To Homemade in 275+ categories. Neither money nor products are ever accepted to appear on the Closest To Homemade list.

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