Companies in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) sector are reducing sodium content, including through stealth-health, while larger market trends around clean labeling could distract companies from developing healthier and more nutritious products, said Tia Rains, Vice President of Science, Innovation, and Corporate Affairs for Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition North America, speaking to FoodNavigator-USA.

Government agencies are making efforts to reduce sodium.

"I started working on sodium reduction when I joined Kraft Foods in 1998," said Rains. "From what I've seen, we haven't made any headway in the average sodium intake in the U.S., so it's a long time to stand still, but I think there is now momentum. You have pressure from the FDA and some of these global groups that believe companies will have to start living up to their commitments."

The intention to reduce sodium content in food and beverages comes after years of research showing that a high-sodium diet correlates with negative health outcomes, including an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and other conditions, according to the CDC.

On average, Americans consume more than 3,400 mg of sodium per day, surpassing the daily limit of 2,300 mg recommended in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, with bread, pizza, sandwiches, deli meats, soups, and salty snacks being among the major sources of sodium, according to the CDC.

Global health agencies and experts are setting goals to reduce sodium intake, explained Rains. The World Health Organization sets the daily sodium intake at 2,000 mg.

"You have all these entities globally, pushing food companies to reduce sodium. So, for example, in the U.S., we have voluntary sodium targets from the FDA, but then you also have globally, companies that have made commitments through various associations saying they will meet different sodium reduction targets."

CPG companies have set their own goals for reducing sodium in their products. Recently, PepsiCo set the goal that at least 75% of its global convenient food portfolio will meet or be below category sodium targets by 2030.

With this goal, PepsiCo aims to reduce sodium in its classic Lay's potato chips in the U.S. by 15%, equivalent to a sodium level of 140 mg per 28 g serving.

Clean label trends hinder sodium reduction?

Despite recent progress in sodium reduction, CPG companies are often under pressure to meet consumer demands, which can hinder the delivery of healthier and better-for-you products, said Rains.

Decades ago, the clean labeling trend was driven by consumer demand to eliminate artificial or perceived harmful food and beverage ingredients to create a shorter ingredient label. However, science has not shown that a shorter ingredient label is necessarily healthier or better for you than a longer one, she explained.

"Show me the study that says [a product] with five ingredients is healthier for you than [one] with 10 ingredients. There isn't one because that doesn't determine the health or nutritional quality of a product.

At the end of the day, what is most important is the quality of nutrition... neither of these is the number of ingredients or the chemical name of the ingredient. It's foolish that we've spent so much time on something that isn't beneficial to the consumer."

Reducing sodium is a reality for consumers.

When making sodium reductions, CPG companies may not make drastic changes in formulations, instead using a stealth-health approach to achieve their goals, noted Rains.

"Consumers are discouraged by any claims or mentions that now this product has been reduced in salt because it equates it with being tasteless or not meeting their expectations. So, you have a consumer who is turned off by any reduced salt content because of their previous experience."

The approach to sodium reduction may also vary depending on the product, explained Rains. For example, sauces, dressings, marinades, and processed meats are typically high in sodium, and Ajinomoto has reduced sodium content while maintaining taste. The company also has expertise in umami tastes and knows "how to pull umami levers to enhance delight with less sodium" using ingredients such as MSG and others.

"What we're finding is actually getting a significant sodium reduction and having the product still taste great. It's more complicated than just taking out the salt and replacing it with potassium chloride.

We've spent a lot of time understanding this better and trying to... think about what are the complexities, because we believe it depends on its application, but there have to be some similar rules we can apply to other applications when we extend it and work on how it looks now."