As they continue their mission to reduce tobacco use in Iowa, a group is calling on Hy-Vee to stop selling tobacco products in its stores.
The Iowa Tobacco Prevention Alliance (ITPA) posted a petition online to get the West Des Moines-based grocery chain to stop selling tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, at any store that has a pharmacy or health clinic.
ITPA, a non-profit organization in Iowa solely focused on reducing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke said they are requesting that Hy-Vee quit selling these products because they are a sponsor of Iowa’s Healthiest State Initiative.
“This would reduce the availability and marketing of tobacco products, accelerate progress in reducing tobacco use and ultimately help end the tobacco epidemic and the damage to health and well-being that accompanies it,” ITPA stated on its petition.
“As a retailer, we offer consumers a variety of products; we do not believe it is our role to police their personal decisions,” Hy-Vee said in an emailed statement, according to a report by Business Record. “We actively try to encourage customers’ healthy choices by keeping tobacco products behind courtesy counters and excluding them from marketing. And in contrast, we visibly tout the convenient access to smoking cessation programs and products provided through our pharmacies and in-store dietitians and clinics.”
Under the Health section on Hy-Vee’s website, the grocery store lists the risks and health problems associated with smoking. Written based on medical journals, Hy-Vee describes smoking as being “detrimental to health.”
Hy-Vee reportedly ranks among the top 25 supermarket chains and has more than 230 stores in the Midwest, according to Business Record.
