Sam’s Club Is Banning 40 Ingredients—Here’s a List

Shopping at warehouse stores like Sam’s Club can be a great way to stock your refrigerator and pantry with healthy items like marinara sauce, whole peppercorns and romaine lettuce at great prices. What’s more, if you’re trying to include more healthy foods and protein-packed snacks in your diet, shopping at Sam’s Club can be especially helpful. (To get the most from your Sam’s Club shopping experience, it’s also great to know the best time to shop at the warehouse store—a variable that changes based on the type of items you’re shopping for.)

Adding to Sam’s Club’s appeal as a great spot to stock up on healthy grocery items is its commitment to evolve its Member’s Mark products into a more sustainable brand. This effort comes as part of Walmart’s (Sam’s Club’s parent company) 2020 commitment to become a “regenerative brand”—a company-wide commitment to improve products in a way that benefits people and the planet. Part of this initiative means Sam’s Club will be removing 40 ingredients from its brand of products by the end of 2025.

Sam’s Club plans to have 100% of its Member’s Mark food and beverage products free of these 40 ingredients before the end of the year. On Sam’s Club’s “made without” list are ingredients like aspartame, artificial flavors, certified synthetic colors, high fructose corn syrup, saccharin and talc. And Sam’s Club is making big strides toward this goal: According to a recent press release, the Member’s Mark brand is currently 96% free of the 40 ingredients on this list.

Also according to the press release, the items on the list were selected based on “member feedback, nutritional guidance and industry trends.” The team at Sam’s Club are hoping their removal will help them stay true to the goal of their generic Member’s Mark brand—offering high-quality groceries at prices more people can afford.

Sam’s Club says more than 70% of its members surveyed indicated they are seeking minimally processed foods when they shop for groceries, with 90% of surveyed members saying they aspire to live a healthier lifestyle in general—and we can relate. Though you can definitely make processed foods part of a healthy eating pattern and lifestyle, some research indicates that some ultra-processed foods can be tough on your body, including your heart. 

Sam’s Club is also exploring bringing the same “made without” list to its other Member’s Mark products, like household essentials, baby care items and health products. Here’s the full list of items to be removed from all Member’s Mark food and beverage products by the end of 2025.

• Acesulfame-K (Acesulfame Potassium) (Ace-K)
• Acetylated Ester of Mono & Diglycerides (ACETEM)
• Artificial Flavors
• Aspartame
• Azodicarbonamide, ADA
• Benzyl Alcohol
• Butylated hydroxy anisole (BHA)
• Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT)
• Butylparaben
• Certified Synthetic Colors/FD&C Colors 
• Cocamide DEA
• Cyclamates
• Cyclopentasiloxane
• Cyclotetrasiloxane
• Dioctyl Sodium Sulfosuccinate (DSS)
• DMDM Hydantoin
• Ethyl Vanillin
• Formaldehyde
• Hexa, Hepta, Octa Esters of Sucrose
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Lactylated Esters of Mono & Diglycerides (OLEON)
• Methylparaben
• Neotame
• Phthalates
• Potassium Bisulfate
• Potassium Bisulfite
• Potassium Nitrate/Nitrite
• Propyl Gallate
• Propylparaben
• Saccharin (all)
• Simplesse®
• Sodium Ferrocyanide
• Sodium Propionate
• Sucroglycerides
• Sucrose Polyester
• Talc
• Tertiary Butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) (except in 35-pound food service frying oils)
• Toluene

Some of these additives may be familiar to you—particularly artificial sweeteners like saccharin and aspartame. Additives like potassium nitrate and nitrite are often used to cure processed meats, like sausages and cold cuts, but there’s some concern that nitrates and nitrites might support carcinogenic compounds in your body. 

“I think it’s great that Sam’s Club is committed to offering more sustainable products to their customers,” shares Jessica Ball, M.S., RD, senior nutrition editor at EatingWell. “That said, it’s important to remember that the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] requires that food additives meet their safety standards before they’re able to be used in products. While avoiding the additives on this list might be beneficial for some, more research is needed to clarify their impacts on long term health. Though it’s a trending topic right now, you don’t need to fear food additives if you don’t have an adverse reaction to them.”

While it’s exciting to see that Sam’s Club is taking steps to help shoppers avoid unnecessary additives, you don’t necessarily need to stress if you have some items in your pantry with these ingredients. As long as you’re getting a balance of nutrients throughout the day—some healthy fats, fiber, protein and a mix of vitamins and minerals—you’ll be setting yourself up for success.