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Feel Like You’ve Been Putting More Salt on Your Food Lately? There’s a Reason

Feb. 11, 2013 5:31pm Erica Ritz

Food Companies Quietly Cutting Salt From Favorite Recipes, Kraft, ConAgra, Au Bon Pain, Cereal

(Photo: Shutterstock/ Nenov Brothers Photography)

(TheBlaze/AP) — Salt has quietly been slipping out of dozens of the most familiar foods in brand-name America, from Butterball turkeys to Uncle Ben’s flavored rice dishes to Goya canned beans.

A Kraft American cheese single has 18 percent less salt than it did three years ago. The salt in a dollop of Ragu Old World Style pasta sauce is down by 20 percent. A serving of a Wishbone salad dressing has as much as 37 percent less salt. And a squirt of Heinz ketchup is 15 percent less salty.

Their manufacturers are among 21 companies that have met targets so far in a voluntary, New York City-led effort to get food manufacturers and restaurateurs to lighten up on salt to improve Americans’ heart health, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Monday. While it’s unclear whether consumers have noticed the changes, campaigns aim to get more salt out of the national diet in the coming years – a challenge for an ingredient that plays a role in the taste, preservation and even texture of food.

Salt reduction has become a recent focus of public health campaigns in the city and elsewhere. Salt, or sodium chloride, is the main source of sodium for most people.

A standout display holds Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, part of the Kraft Foods Inc. family of brands and products, are seen at a Ralphs Fresh Fare supermarket in Los Angeles Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011. (Photo: AP)

Sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure, a major cause of heart disease and stroke. Dietary guidelines recommend no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day, equal to about a teaspoon of salt; the American Heart Association suggests 1,500 milligrams or less. But average sodium consumption in the U.S. is around 3,300 milligrams, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have found.

Officials said the first step was a meaningful one.

“The products they’re making healthier are some of America’s most beloved and iconic foods,” noted Mayor Bloomberg, a fan of Subway’s meaty Italian BMT sandwiches, which are now 27 percent less salty.

Health officials say Americans get the vast majority of their salt from processed and prepared foods, and not necessarily the foods they’d imagine: Bread and rolls are the No. 1 source.

“The problem is not the salt on the table. The problem is the salt on the label,” city Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley warned.

A sign explaining the absence of salt shakers is posted on a table inside a Boston Market restaurant on August 21, 2012 in San Francisco, California. (Photo: Getty Images)

The amount of salt in any given food item can vary widely. A slice of white bread can have between 80 and 230 milligrams of sodium, for example. A cup of canned chicken noodle soup has between 100 and 940 milligrams. A 1-ounce bag of potato chips ranges from 50 to 200 milligrams.

In one of a series of healthy-eating initiatives on Bloomberg’s 11-year watch, the city announced voluntary salt guidelines in 2010 for various restaurant and store-bought foods. Besides trimming salt levels in the foods by 25 percent by 2014, the campaign aimed to reduce consumers’ overall sodium intake by 20 percent in the same timeframe. Interim targets for the foods were set for 2012.

For instant hot cereals, as an example, the guidelines called for a 15 percent salt reduction by last year and a 31 percent cut by 2014.

Boston-based cafe chain Au Bon Pain lowered salt in sandwiches and breads by getting suppliers to use fresh vegetables, whole grains and herbs, CEO Sue Morelli said in a release.

Fresh bread is sold at Borough Market on February 7, 2013. (Photo: Getty Images)

Kraft Foods Inc. squeezed salt out of products ranging from steak sauce to bacon partly by substituting potassium chloride, research Vice President Russ Moroz said. It’s also salty-tasting, but potassium lowers blood pressure, and most Americans don’t get enough of it, Farley said.

The switch works up to a point – generally, about 10 to 15 percent of the sodium content – before potassium chloride causes a bitter or metallic taste, Moroz said. Northfield, Ill.-based Kraft can use other flavors to mask that, but maintaining the taste is “really the challenge in continuing to reduce sodium,” he said.

“If you don’t make foods that taste good, people don’t buy them, and, in the end, we haven’t really done anything to impact the diet in the country,” Moroz said.

Bloomberg has seized on improving New Yorkers’ eating habits as a public health priority, leading charges that have banned trans fats from restaurant meals, forced chain eateries to post calorie counts on menus and limited the size of some sugary drinks.

He and city officials say they’re making pioneering reasonable efforts to save lives and cut health care costs, but some food industry interests and consumers have said New York is turning into a nutrition nanny.

CBS News has more on the story:

Still, many companies are making the call on their own.

ConAgra, which makes Chef Boyardee and Marie Callender’s products, is following its own 2009 commitment to shave the amount of sodium in its foods by 20 percent by 2015.

Salt was simply reduced in some recipes; others have swapped some table salt with potassium chloride or sea salt, which has lower sodium levels, said Mark Andon, vice president of nutrition at Omaha, Neb.-based ConAgra Foods Inc. Another technique is using finer salt particles, which spread the taste over more surface area; that approach has reduced salt in its Orville Redenbacher and Act II popcorn by 25 percent.

But ConAgra hasn’t broadcast the changes on its food labels.

“If you put that on your packaging, that can be a negative taste cue,” Andon said.

PepsiCo Inc., which makes Frito-Lay products, announced in 2010 that it would cut sodium in key brands by one-fourth in five years. Spokesman Christopher Wyse said Monday the New York-based company is looking for alternatives after a plan to use smaller salt crystals didn’t work.

Front page image via Shutterstock.

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Comments (77)

okieqt
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:39pm
Walk around NYC and within minutes you’ll notice people smoking everywhere. The research linking salt intake to health problems is weak at best, yet the research on smoking is definitive. Clearly these measures are based on political motive or just plain ignorance. They would be better off leaving people alone & cleaning up things that make much more of an impact. (Crime, that cesspool smell that permeates the city, etc.)

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- banjarmon
  Posted on February 12, 2013 at 1:34am
  I guess I will have to carry my salt grinder in the extra mag pouch for my Glock!
  
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- paultard
  Posted on February 12, 2013 at 8:32am
  It’s not the salt that’s the problem, it’s all the man made tinkering with our food that’s the problem. WHEAT is a big deal here and not just GMO wheat. The mutation and crossbreeding of wheat to create high yields as damaged the beneficial characteristics of wheat. The Science was to create high yields and have them roundup resistant BUT they never took into account the health problems with their hybrid wheat today. GMO foods aren’t the answer either.. There is a lethal cocktail of food out there that perpetuates ill health, and repetitive visits to the doc as well as obesity, heart disease ( #1 killer) and cancer. Don’t believe me? Here’s a primer on what they did to wheat.. It is nowhere NEAR biblical wheat at all: http://youtu.be/uexJlVLbDzI In depth: http://youtu.be/WSDkJEF9aBY In depth part 2: http://youtu.be/RmsxCN7htHM
  
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- okieqt
  Posted on February 14, 2013 at 3:53am
  I absolutely believe you Pauly. I like the idea that people can be educated by research like that and make the decision in a free market to not purchase said products. The producers will adjust products accordingly if that is the demand (as stated in the article.) No need for government intervention. Please be careful when you pass the extra fine sea salt Mon. ;)
  
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emh1701
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:38pm
The entire population of the U.S. should not be a testing ground for one-size-fits-all health policies. Rarely do one-size-fits-all policies actually fit all.

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woodyee
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:37pm
A few years ago, when I was still working – when I had MONEY, pre-Obama (2003-BO) we hosted some kids from Japan in a cultural exchange. After gorging themselves on a regular American diet, we thought to treat them to a local Japanese restaurant. They didn’t like the teriyaki beef or chicken, because it was too sweet! Their taste buds were adjusted to a different sensitivity – a lot of Japanese sweets taste rather, erahhh, ‘almost’ sweet to me, but I bet it tastes really sweet to them – get my drift?

I go with a little less salt due to health concerns, but I’ll be danged if I’d call on some politician to coerce companies to ‘volunteer’ make it mandatory for everyone else! Folk in bass terds!!

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- Keatonc333
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 7:58pm
  quit being a taker! you are dragging down this economy! you well-fare brat!
  
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- Verceofreason
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 11:37pm
  Don’t you love responses that have nothing to do with your post?
  
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teawithjill
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:35pm
Well most processed foods still have way too much sodium. It is bad for blood pressure, I started watching my sodium intake and I was amazed at how much I really consumed. My blood pressure was a little high for the first time in my life, but after 3 months of cutting back to 1500 mg a day it is almost normal again. I refused to take their pills because they never let you stop taking them once you start!! So cutting back is good but we don’t need politicians to regulate it for us!!

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- NickyLouse
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 7:27pm
  Are you a doctor What are your credentials? Do not attempt to make blanket statements that are not necessarily applicable to everyone.
  
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- TopFlightSecurity
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 11:04pm
  Salt does not cause high blood pressure. Every study that I have seen that was credible showed that while salt may aggravate high blood pressure they could never find one shred of evidence that it caused it. Also iodized table salt(which is bad for you anyways) is the salt they are always talking about yet they don’t differentiate. All salts are not created equal. Iodized salt is refined and processed and does not break down in the body the way natural salts do. This is all about government control plain and simple. Statistics show fat people and smokers actually have lower healthcare cost over a lifetime because their lifetime is about half as much as everyone else’s. If the companies would replace the iodized salt with sea or kosher salt they could get the salty taste they are looking for without all the high sodium levels.
  
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- Verceofreason
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 11:38pm
  They use a lot of salt to cover up their tasteless food.
  
  Report this comment
- Exiled
  Posted on February 12, 2013 at 12:31am
  I need salt to help keep my blood pressure NORMAL.
  
  Report this comment
- jettson
  Posted on February 13, 2013 at 9:57am
  This guy is right you don’t need to be a doctor to know that to much salt is in everything. He never said this is applicable to everyone. I don’t need any government moron to tell me what I should eat. This guy has a point and you don’t. Don’t bother to respond to this I don’t care what you think about anything.
  
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hkyfan36
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:34pm
I do not trust ConArga at all. They and Monsanto have corrupted the food so bad its not funny. I am not a purest by any means but I don’t think you should cross corn and fish to make the corn last longer. Unaltered food please.

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- woodyee
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:40pm
  You’ve got a point there – how far will they go when messing around with food? If ‘soylent green’ is good for farm animals…
  
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- Xanderson
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:56pm
  Amen. Grow and prepare as much of your food as possible. The crud we are sold to eat will kill us!!
  
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showmerancher
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:34pm
Yeah… I long for the day when Saltines actually had salt on them. It’s probably just me, but I do notice that with less salt in food I actually end up over-salting things. I’m probably worse off now than when I didn’t have to salt most things. Go figure.

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- CatB
  Posted on February 12, 2013 at 1:30am
  Food does not keep as well without the salt content .. check your cans in the pantry .. I found some were bulging after a short time .. NOW I KNOW WHY.
  
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OldVet
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:25pm
Excess salt is eliminated by your body. But about 1-3% of the population has a problem with excessive sodium intake. Why should we complain if the other 97-99% has to sacrifice their freedom for such an important minority. I guess it is too much to ask that those who have a problem voluntarily cut down on salt if it is hurting them. Oh, I forgot, we are all idiots. the government is taking care of us.

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- snufy
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 7:08pm
  You’re correct. Salt is a necessary addative to your diet. It is an electrolite for your brain, and keeps you from dehydrating in hot weather. Blooming-Idiot-Berg even puts salt on Saltine crackers, so who’e the hipocrite? In boot camp they gave us salt pills to keep us from dehydrating. Salt does help retain water in our body, and anyone that says it raises bp should know that it’s because of the extra water in the blood, increasing the amount of blood. The government can’t even run their own lives, so why should we pay any attention to them when they try to run ours?
  
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quiltgal
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:23pm
Salt grows on you. The more you use, the more you want. If you cut back, you’ll miss it at first, but after a while you’ll begin to taste the food, instead of just salt. You won’t want or crave so much salt. That said, I don’t think government should regulate salt. Educate ok, regulate absolutely not. Butt out of my food, big government. If salt gives me high blood pressure and makes my face puffy, it’s my business.

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KingDork
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:23pm
I actually require a little bit more salt in my diet due I tend to get some problems when I don’t get enough salt in. Normally I just get plenty of salt that I need in normal food but lately need to add more salt in my diet because they been removing it more and more. Funny.

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TotallyNotATroll
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:14pm
Nanny state manure. (figured Blaze wouldn’t censor that) I have thought on several occasions that things like my ketchup tasted off, now I know why.

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- lordamercy
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:32pm
  Exactly! I wonder if manufacturers are adding sweeteners to compensate? Many foods taste very sweet to us now. Things like sandwich bread, sloppy joe mix, etc., are so sweet we can’t eat them now. Better made from scratch, anyway!!
  
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HOOT_OWL
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:14pm
I noticed something was off on a lot of different foods . Here I though it was my taste buds.
It will cost them .! People/ I will quit buying the name brand and by the off brand .Especially when it cost less and taste better. I hate Government intrusion . And I despise ‘sneaky’.. And when you put those two together.. Well you know.

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- Max jones
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 7:51pm
  I started buying the house brands(generic) in the grocery store for cost reasons, and now I buy them for the quality, and value. Oh by the way, don’t put fuel with ethanol in your car or motorcycle….it is corrosive, and deposits “varnish” in any fuel system….especially bad for 2-cycle motors.
  
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DougHuffman
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:12pm
Hmmm, my cardiologist recommended “more salt (potato chips), more fluids (beer!), and 20# (all of the above)” to combat athletic heart hypertrophy and neuro-cardiogenic hypotension, Which is to say I have too low BP and a very slow HR. I wonder what liability these “new and improved” foods companies might incur.

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- woodyee
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:30pm
  Wow, how funny…my doctor recommended a good wine to go with a dose of good, premium cigars, in lieu of medical marijuana for my government-induced stress; must have gone to the same school!
  
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Minarchian
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:11pm
I have noticed a difference.

We went to a grocery called “Aldi” a few months ago.

Most of their foods are imported.

The food was like how I remember food tasting. It’s amazing how bland our food tastes compared to what they eat over-seas. Especially the cereals….they tasted like they did years ago.

(no, I don’t work for Aldi, I’m just sayin)

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- HOOT_OWL
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:16pm
  I love aldi’s and save-a-lot
  
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- bigdaddyt46
  Posted on February 12, 2013 at 7:52am
  i have been shopping Aldi’s from the get go. first one in Milwaukee, Wi. when i lived on my own i could go into an Aldi’s with $20, and come out with 3 weeks worth of food.
  
  i had one of my cravings for spaggettios, and italian bread so i got some cambell’s spagettios($1.29) and it tasted horrible. will never eat it again. i have had ringos (their version of spagettios @.49 ) alot and will only buy that. their version of most stuff far acceed that fancy schmancy(you’re paying for the name not because it’s better) name brands.
  in “regular stores” i buy the store version over name brands(ie love armour italian meatballs, but they now cost $8.99 for a 14oz bag bought them on sale for $6.99 because my mom really wanted them. also noticed the store version @ $3.99 for 26oz, and bought a bag to try and trying to stretch the armour ones, as well as see if it would be a good alternative. guess what? the store brand tasted exactly the same to us as armour).
  there are very few name brand of things i insist on. Digonio(can’t think of how to spell it LOL) pizza, Sacremento tomato juice, and indian summer apple juice are just about the only exception to the no name brand rule.
  
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GuruMeditation
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:11pm
and yes I have noticed that I do apply more salt here recently to all kinds of things. I even find myself salting bags of planters peanuts because they suck they way the salt them now.

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MrKnowItAll
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:09pm
You don’t know what’s good for you….Boy! Freedom Lost.

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GuruMeditation
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:09pm
Lame. Leave our salt alone!

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term limits for congress
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:03pm
I’m going to start smoking – just because I still can.

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- GuruMeditation
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:09pm
  hehe… I guess I won’t quit then. ;-)
  
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Saff SGT
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:01pm
Govermnment controls hahahaha Communist bastards someday soon we will control them and they wont like it there will be no weak for them to kill or torture and all voting machines will spit out just one vote per person. This will kill most of them off

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tipicanoe
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:00pm
I keep lots of salt in the pantry, so the food Nazis can get themselves stuffed

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Saff SGT
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 5:59pm
Liberals still get plenty of Salt by suking Dicks

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scrapadapolis
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 5:54pm
Idione in salt is needed for the thyroid.second has anyone notice food doesnt preserve well anymore?The foods we grew up with that would have that taste like mom made no longer have the same appeal.And on another note WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SALTY JELLY IN SPAM!!

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Mr.Fitnah
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 5:45pm
Good start ,can you start making food with sugar in it everything manufactured doesn’t need some form of sugar.

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SpankDaMonkey
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 5:41pm
.
Just more Salt for Obama to pour in the wound he’s putting in the country…..

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oh_yeah
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 5:37pm
no

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IMCHRISTIAN
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 5:34pm
Salt is also necessary in moderation.

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- RJJinGadsden
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:06pm
  I’m with you on that. I occasionally cook certain things with a tiny bit of salt added, but since the early ’80s I never add salt to anything. Have enjoyed the real taste of food rather the overpowering taste of salt.
  
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- HOOT_OWL
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:24pm
  I try to avoid ‘Moderation’ these days .
  
  “Moderation” comes across as to hatful and hypocritical.
  
  I prefer to use ‘balance’ now.
  
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- Rowgue
  Posted on February 11, 2013 at 6:29pm
  The only foods that are prepared with a ton of salt are extremely bland foods that have no real flavor of their own. Potatoes and products made from them, popcorn, rice, etc. But even then you shouldn’t atually taste the salt. If it tastes like salt then there is too much.
  
  In moderation however salt enhances the flavor of foods it doesn’t cover it up. And like was already said it’s a necessary part of our diets in reasonable amounts. In addition to needing the sodium itself it’s also the primary source of iodine for most people. People simply don’t eat diets that contain enough iodine rich foods. There were major health problems with iodine defficiencies before they started adding it to salt.
  
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- Gnostyk
  Posted on February 12, 2013 at 11:37am
  Let’s face it: hypertension, heart disease, and related problems are fundamentally genetic. My dad died of a cerebral hemmorhage at the age of 47. My mom died of a myocardial infarction at the age of 83.
  
  At one time, my diet consisted of about 99% processed foods. Had a talk with my doc. Seems like I liked a little food with my salt. Had to make some changes because of hypertension.
  
  Haven’t touched a salt shaker in about 4 years. The first effect of reducing my sodium intake was that I lost 10 lbs. Doc said it was water loss. I still eat my favorite foods–just in smaller portions, and occasionally.
  
  As Phil Berquist said in the movie CITY SLICKERS (at Curly’s funeral): “The man ate bacon at every meal… you… you can’t do that!”
  
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