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FDA has issued voluntary food industry guidance for sodium reduction
The Food and Drug Administration has issued new guidance that aims to reduce sodium content in commercially processed, packaged, and prepared foods.
The guidance provides voluntary short-term sodium reduction targets for food manufacturers, chain restaurants, and food service operators.
Xavier Becerra, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, says it’s time to heed the advice of the FDA and reduce sodium consumption in diets.
“We want to get back to where we were before COVID but to do that we have to prevent these kinds of diet-related conditions and diseases and not just try to treat them and remediate,” he says. “The science is in and it’s clear that nearly half of Americans are consuming too much salt. In fact, we consume on average about 50 percent more salt in a year than we should and that adds up.”
Becerra says, with the help of the food industry, meaningful sodium reductions can be made.
Megan Meyer, the senior director of science communications with the International Food Information Council, says it’s important to note that the guidance is not changing sodium intake recommendations.
“This guidance from the FDA is intended for food manufacturers to encourage them to lower the sodium content of packaged and prepared food,” she says. “It does not refer to the sodium from salt or seasoning that Americans add to their food.”
She says the guidance from the FDA is intended to support the recent advice around sodium consumption from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.
The FDA first proposed reduced sodium recommendations in a 2016 draft guidance. The agency says it’s encouraging that number of companies in the food industry have already made changes to sodium content, but additional support across all types of foods to help consumers meet recommended sodium limits is needed.
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Audio: Xavier Becerra
Audio: Megan Meyer
