FDA to Challenge Food Industry to Take Up New Sodium Targets

The food industry can expect new voluntary sodium reduction targets from the FDA for commercially processed, packaged, and prepared foods.

As part of its overall initiative to reduce sodium consumption on the population level, the agency released draft guidance on phase II sodium goals for each food category. If finalized, the new set of voluntary targets would help bring Americans’ average individual sodium intake to about 2,750 mg per day — down from the 3,400 mg daily average intake recorded prior to 2021.

The agency clarified that these are recommendations, not legally enforceable requirements.

“We estimated that a reduction in mean population intake to near 2,750 mg/day could be attainable by 3 years from the date of the final guidance if the food industry achieved the Phase II goals presented in this guidance,” FDA authors wrote in the draft document.

“These Phase II goals are within the range of concentrations found in currently marketed foods and are feasible using existing technical strategies,” they noted.

Current Dietary Guidelines for Americans advise individuals 14 years and older to limit their sodium consumption to 2,300 mg daily. Sodium intake is known to raise blood pressure and one’s risk of heart disease and stroke.

Estimates suggest that over 70% of total sodium intake is from sodium added during food manufacturing and commercial food preparation.

The FDA said its new sodium targets would follow initial phase I targets issued to industry in October 2021. The agency cited preliminary data showing about 40% of those phase I targets were very close to or have already been reached as of 2022.

“Reducing sodium in the food supply has the potential to be one of the most important public health initiatives in a generation. The early successes we’re seeing with sodium level reduction in certain foods is encouraging and indicative of the impact we believe our overall nutrition approach can have on the well-being of society,” said FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods Jim Jones in a press release.

Jones added that the FDA is also working on a forthcoming final rule updating the definition of “healthy” in marketing claims and a proposed rule for front-of-package nutrition labeling.

Reducing consumption of added sugars is yet another nutrition initiative of the agency, he said in the statement.

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