I have really mixed feelings about Whole Foods Markets. I like their produce and fish. I dislike their prices. I like their willingness to stock the products of small companies. I find that about 90% of their prepared foods are disappointing when inserted into the mouth. I like the mood of the stores and how good all their employees seem to be. I don't like some of the more outrageous things the CEO has said about how he thinks the country should be run and/or how employees should be treated.
But here's one more thing I like. They have this list of ingredients they will not tolerate in products sold in their stores. I might quarrel that a few shouldn't be on there but I like that a company even cares enough to make such a list, whereas a business like Walmart doesn't seem to care.
Ben Blatt matched what's on Walmart's shelves against the Whole Foods list and determined that a little over half of what Walmart sells is unacceptable to Whole Foods. This even includes some bottled water. That's something worth thinking about.
I get most of my groceries at Ralphs but I do read ingredients and don't buy very much that couldn't be sold in Whole Foods. Oddly enough, very few of the things I buy at Ralphs are sold in Whole Foods though they could be. I suspect Whole Foods feels that if you see on their shelves too many things you can buy for less at Ralphs, you'll go there.