There is one huge change in the products American food companies decide to sell that could save a huge number of lives. Packaged food companies could prevent approximately 150,000 diet-related deaths in one year by shifting just some of their products toward healthier options that are already being sold in grocery stores, per new data from the Access to Nutrition Initiative and the NGO ShareAction.

The study analyzed nearly 10,000 food and beverage products sold in packaging by 24 leading makers in the United States, which produce a combined 37 percent of all packaged foods and beverages sold in the country on a sales value basis. A hypothetical situation was established in which sales within each food and beverage category could be redistributed toward the healthier end of that category, leading to reduced consumption of energy, saturated fat and salt and increased level of fibre. This would, per the study, lead to some 150,000 avoided deaths from heart disease and stroke.

The economic argument is compelling too. The same transition could help consumers avoid roughly $11.6bn in foregone wages resulting from diet-related health conditions in the working population. Also, there would be savings to the healthcare system. Crucially, neither of these benefits hinges on the creation of completely new products. All the healthier alternatives already have proven markets across key categories. Companies would simply have to manufacture and market them in larger quantities, while reducing output of the less healthy fare that is the staple of today’s best-sellers.

Perhaps the greatest potential lies in these ordinary part-of-the-Diet categories that comprise an enormous percentage of typical Americans’ food consumption. Baked goods, sweet, and savory snack foods sweets sodas sauces dips and condiments, and beverages, in particular, proved to be areas where small shifts in the mix of foods could accrue substantial health gains they are products that most households continue to purchase on a regular basis; this way even small shifts in their nutritional composition will have wide-ranging impact.

Diet continues to be one of the top killers in the United States. Nearly a million Americans die each year from the effects of poor diet, with significant costs incurred in the health system and in the wider economy. Considerable proportions of the calories Americans eat come from ultra-processed foods. A small number of corporations making up the packaged food market drive nutritional standards in the country by the choices they make in manufacturing products.

It would be incorrect for the study to be interpreted as suggesting that only companies are responsible for fixing the nation’s dietary health issues. Consumer decisions price advertising and policy all have their part to play. Though it does emphasise a real immediate influence that manufacturers already have. A more balanced mix of what their brands offer would make the healthy choice the default choice, without waiting for all consumers to change their behavior instantaneously.

For many the reformulation and portfolio change is unacceptably slow. Our research shows there is scope for real change in existing markets. The implications for the industry are both a challenge and a chance.