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Business & Tech

Opus Bank Making Headway, a New Veterinary Hospital and Walmart Gets Healthy

Residents will soon have a new bank and veterinary hospital to visit, and buy healthier groceries at Walmart.

In this week's installment of L.N. Biz briefs, residents can look forward to a new veterinary hospital and bank opening soon, as well as healthier food options at .

Walmart Goes Healthy

A year after pledging to develop a front-of-pack label that would give its customers an easier way to identify healthier food, Walmart, has unveiled the “Great For You” icon. The icon, part of the company’s healthier food initiative, is an effort to implement a transparent, summary icon for its private label brand products backed by rigorous nutrition criteria. “Great For You” will initially appear on select Walmart Great Value and Marketside items, as well as on fresh and packaged fruits, and vegetables at Walmart U.S. stores nationwide this spring.

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“At Walmart, we believe that no family should have to choose between food that is healthier for them and food they can afford,” said KimSentovich, Walmart senior vice president. “This new program will provide the information and the convenience that will help our Laguna Niguel customers make healthier food choices and ultimately, live better. By extending “Great For You” to fruits and vegetables and nutritious food options the company will make it easier for its customers to build healthier diets."

The science-based criteria use a two-step process: Step one focuses on encouraging people to eat more fruits, vegetables, fiber-rich whole grains, low-fat dairy, nuts and seeds and lean meats. Examples of these items include brown rice, 1 percent milk, raw almonds and 93 percent lean ground beef. Step two limits the amount of total, trans and saturated fats, sodium and added sugars that can be found in items such as sweetened oatmeal, granola bars, flavored yogurt and frozen meals.

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Walmart has been working to reduce sodium and added sugars in 165 food items. Some of the items reformulated in the last year include:

  • 15 percent sodium reduction in Great Value ketchup.
  • An average of 15 percent sodium reduction in Great Value canned vegetables, including corn, green beans and carrots.

New Pet Hospital

Another veterinary hospital is headed to the area called Alicia Pacific Veterinary Clinic at 30051 Alicia Pkwy. The 3,000 square foot clinic will take over two vacant spots in the Pacific Island Center.

More Banking Options

Construction at located at 24050 Aliso Creek Road at the intersection of Aliso Creek Road and La Paz Road is moving along. The new bank branches are part of a company strategy to expand the bank's offices throughout metropolitan California and Washington.

Bank officials said Tuesday the location is "currently under construction and should open late-March or early-April."

“As one of the best capitalized banks in the Western region, we are continuing to strategically expand our network of banking offices in the major metropolitan areas up and down the West Coast,” said Stephen H. Gordon, chairman, CEO and president of Opus Bank. 

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