After 15 years as a gourmet destination selling prime beef, crusty white bread and rich chocolate cake, Whole Foods will re-embrace its original emphasis, mirroring Mr. Mackey's personal conversion to healthier eating -- and reflecting consumers' reluctance to spend money on the company's pricier foods.

On Tuesday, Whole Foods posted a 3.1% increase in quarterly profit as cost-cutting offset its third consecutive quarter of declining sales at stores open at least a year. Results exceeded Wall Street forecasts and shares jumped 13% to $28.03 in late trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Mr. Mackey said in an interview prior to Tuesday's results that Whole Foods this fall will launch a "healthy eating" initiative with cooking demonstrations and recipes. The blunt-speaking Mr. Mackey said the company's product selection had veered off-course.

"We sell a bunch of junk," he said, vowing to promote healthier lifestyles for its customers and employees. "We've decided if Whole Foods doesn't take a leadership role in educating people about a healthy diet, who the heck is going to do it?"

Mr Mackey's conversion springs from a personal devotion to healthy eating. He says that he cut out all refined oils six months ago and has lost 10 lb as a result. "I don't eat olive oil any more," Mr Mackey said. "There is a whole myth about olive oil being heart-healthy. Now when I eat something with oil in it, it tastes heavy and greasy to me."

The majority of U.S. animals raised for meat, eggs and dairy spend their lives confined in factory-style farms. Generally animals raised under humane food programs are given access to sunlight, fresh air, and freedom of movement. Levels of animal welfare can be identified by a variety of labels on food packaging, which are often misleading to consumers. WSPA rates food labels such as “free range,” “USDA organic” and “cage free” in terms of the way the animals raised for food are treated and aims to educate consumers about what food labels to choose and which ones to avoid.

The 2009 survey recorded products in four categories: dairy, eggs, unprocessed meat and poultry, and processed meat and poultry (bacon, ham, hot dogs). Stores were ranked using a point system based on the quality and variety of the food products available on the shelves.

Whole Foods scored the highest by far, offering twice as many humanely labeled products per store as the two companies tied for second -- Shaw’s Supermarkets and Publix Super Markets. Wal-Mart Stores, the world’s largest food retailer, scored near the bottom. The lowest in the survey was Save-A-Lot Food Stores with no humanely labeled products found in its stores. For complete store rankings and survey results visit www.EatHumane.org.

1. Whole Foods Market - 83
2. Shaw's Supermarket, Inc. - 42
3. Publix Super Market - 42
4. Hy-Vee Inc.- 36
5. Ralphs (Kroger, Co.)- 33

The grocery chain posted a 32% drop in second-quarter earnings, as consumers cut back on pricey foods and stick to private-label products.

During the quarter, the company earned $27.3 million, or 19 cents a share, missing forecasts of 19 cents. This compared with earnings of $40 million, or 29 cents, last year.

Sales remained flat at $1.9 billion, but same-store sales dropped 4.8% during the quarter.

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In a settlement announced Friday, Whole Foods agreed to sell 31 Wild Oats stores in 12 states, including 19 stores that already have been closed, and one Whole Foods store. Whole Foods also agreed to relinquish the rights to the Wild Oats brand, which could be sold to a potential competitor.

In exchange, the FTC will drop its legal bid to undo the merger. The commission had argued that the merger would lessen competition in the market for natural and organic foods.

"As a result of this settlement, American consumers will see more choices and lower prices for organic foods," FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a statement. "It allows the FTC to shift resources to other important matters and Whole Foods to move on with its business."

The meat Whole Foods recalled came from Coleman Natural Foods, which unbeknownst to Whole Foods had processed it at Nebraska Beef, an Omaha meatpacker with a history of food-safety and other violations. Nebraska Beef last month recalled more than 5 million pounds of beef produced in May and June after its meat was blamed for another E. coli outbreak in seven states. On Friday it recalled an additional 1.2 million pounds of beef produced on June 17, June 24 and July 8, which included products eventually sold to Whole Foods. The recall is not related to the recent spate of E. coli illnesses among Boy Scouts at a gathering in Goshen, Va.

Whole Foods officials are investigating why they were not aware that Coleman was using Nebraska Beef as a processor, spokeswoman Libba Letton said.

The chain's managers took action after Massachusetts health officials informed them Aug. 1 that seven people who had gotten sick from E. coli O157:H7 had all bought ground beef from Whole Foods. The same strain has sickened 31 people in 12 states, the District and Canada.

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From September 2002 to February 2003, USDA shut down the plant three times for problems such as feces on carcasses, water dripping off pipes onto meat, paint peeling onto equipment and plugged-up meat wash sinks, according to agency records.

Shawn Hebb may have one of America's toughest jobs: convincing people that Whole Foods Market can be an economical place to shop. This week, leading five customers through a store here, he breezed past the triple cream goat cheese, $39.99 a pound, and the fresh tuna, $19.99 a pound, to focus on the merits of beans, chicken thighs and frozen fish. Then he held up a $1.50 package of tofu. "It looks gross but it's delicious," he said.

Whole Foods Market is on a mission to revise its gold-plated image as consumers pull back on discretionary spending in a troubled economy. The company was once a Wall Street darling, but its sales growth was cooling even before the economy turned. Since peaking at the beginning of 2006, its stock has dropped more than 70 percent. Now, in a sign of the times, the company is offering deeper discounts, adding lower-priced store brands and emphasizing value in its advertising. It is even inviting customers to show up for budget-focused store tours like those led by Mr. Hebb, a Whole Foods employee.

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Andrew Wolf, an analyst for BB&T Capital Markets, said Whole Foods was "a tale of two stores." He said the grocery items in the middle of the store are competitive if not cheaper than those at other stores offering the same products, mentioning items like Kashi cereal. But he said that Whole Foods was more expensive on the perimeter of the store, where it sells produce, meat, seafood and prepared foods, items that account for the majority of sales. "They'll say the price is higher, but the quality is higher," he said. "It's kind of, 'You get what you pay for.'"

With the economy still deteriorating, a big question for Whole Foods is whether even its core customers will continue to pay prices like $6.99 a pound for all-natural, air-chilled chicken breast or $12 for a bag of cherries. "We've seen evidence of people being more careful with their choices," said Mr. Robb, the co-president, who said that consumers were still buying items like wine and cheese, but perhaps buying cheaper varieties.