JUNE 2010

The US leads the world in introducing lowsodium products— with food giant Kraft recently announcing it will cut the sodium in all its North American products by an average 10% over the next few years. But low-sodium foods aren’t high on consumers’ shopping lists, according to a new report from Packaged Facts market research. From 2005 to 2009, US companies launched 762 food products or non-alcoholic beverages with a reducedor no-sodium claim—five times the number of the next-highest nation, Japan. Consumers, however, rated cutting sodium below such concerns as eating more fruits and vegetables, getting more fiber, or cutting down on saturated fat, sugar or trans fat. Nonetheless, the report added, “if good-tasting, lower-sodium options are offered, consumers will buy them.”

The Institute of Medicine (IOM), which sets recommended nutrient levels, recently called on the US Food and Drug Adninistration (FDA) to regulate the amount of salt added to foods and gradually decrease sodium levels. The authors of an IOM report concluded that public health and education campaigns have not done enough to reduce the nation’s appetite for salt or sodium amounts in processed foods.