Kraft Foods and Heinz said they plan to exceed targets set by a US programme designed to cut the level of salt in packaged and restaurant foods by 25% over five years.
The two firms were among 16 manufacturers to have joined the National Salt Reduction Initiative, which was formally launched by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg yesterday (26 April).
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Kraft, which last month said it would look to make an average 10% cut in salt across its North American portfolio over the next two years, has signed up its bacon business to the New York initiative.
“We have signed up for one category – bacon – in 2012 to show our support for the initiative and will continue to work toward our overall goal. In fact, Kraft Foods’ plans call for the elimination of significantly more sodium – 170 additional tons – than targeted by the National Salt Reduction Initiative over the next two years. This will result in sodium reductions across more than 1,000 skus,” a spokesperson for Kraft said.
Likewise, Heinz has entered its ketchup, its most popular product in the US, into the initative.
The firm originally announced it would cut the level of salt in its core ketchup line from the summer.
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By GlobalData“Specifically Heinz is going to reduce sodium by 15% across its US ketchup based business starting 1 May 2010,” a spokesperson told just-food. “It will put Heinz ketchup below the 2012 guidelines that the New York mayor is going to announce.
“We have a comprehensive plan for all of our products across our portfolio across the US, but in the UK and US it is different. In the US, when you think Heinz you think of ketchup so that’s what we’ve focused on.”
Other food manufacturers that have joined the New York scheme include; Hain Celestial, Unilever, McCain Foods and Subway.
Last week, the US Institute of Medicine (IOM) urged the Food and Drug Administration to work with manufacturers to introduce mandatory limits on the amount of salt added to food.
The IOM said reductions in sodium could prevent more than 100,000 deaths in the US each year.
