Shaking the sodium: Food industry needs to do more
While many food companies are working to cut the salt in their products in response to a voluntary sodium reduction strategy introduced by Health Canada in 2010, new research from the University of Toronto's department of nutritional sciences suggests there is much more to be done.
Researchers found that only 16 per cent of food categories had significantly cut their salt content.
The study was published recently in the and has been grabbing headlines across the country.
鈥淢ost of the sodium Canadians consume comes from packaged and processed food,鈥 says JoAnne Arcand, co-author and assistant professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology鈥檚 Faculty of Health Sciences, who completed the research while a postdoctoral fellow at 茄子直播. 鈥淔ood manufacturers need to lower the sodium levels in the foods they produce for this public health strategy to be effective.鈥
The Health Canada strategy outlined a series of voluntary sodium reduction benchmark targets aimed at helping Canadians reduce their intake to 2300 mg per day by 2016.
Canadians鈥 sodium intake generally exceeds 3400 mg per day 鈥 more than double the recommended amount of 1500 mg and well over the daily maximum limit of 2300 mg set by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), a non-profit organization that provides evidence-based research and recommendations to the Canadian and US governments for public health and science policy. The IOM oversaw the scientific reviews conducted by Canadian and American scientists to set nutrient recommendations for the North American population. Though sodium is an essential nutrient, too much of it can cause high blood pressure, which in turn could lead to a stroke, heart disease and kidney disease.
鈥淭hose sodium reduction targets weren鈥檛 to get us down to the recommended level; they were to get us down to the upper level,鈥 says Mary L鈥橝bb茅, Earle W. McHenry Professor and Chair of Nutritional Sciences at 茄子直播. 鈥淚t was envisioned as the first step in a longer process of getting our sodium levels to about half of what they are now.鈥
The team looked at the progress made in a variety of food categories between 2010 and 2013. They saw excellent progress in the following categories: imitation seafood; condiments; breakfast cereals; canned vegetables and legumes; plain potato chips; hot cereals; meat substitutes; canned, condensed soup; and sausages and wieners.
鈥淚n some other categories, there were modest improvements, of about five to 10 per cent,鈥 says L鈥橝bb茅. 鈥淭his is still encouraging because the targets were set based on a 25 to 30 per cent reduction over six years. So, as long as the progress continues at a similar rate, those manufacturers are obviously well along the way. But it is still disappointing to see there are still around three-quarters of the food categories that haven`t yet started to lower sodium levels.鈥
Arcand was also involved in an by L鈥橝bb茅鈥檚 lab, which found Canadians generally respond well to food packages with low-sodium claims. According to Arcand, there is consumer demand for lower sodium foods and it鈥檚 up to the food industry to produce those lower sodium products so that consumers have the choice.
鈥淭raditionally, poor consumer acceptance of reduced-sodium products has been an argument for not reformulating the amount of sodium in packaged foods,鈥 says Arcand. 鈥淏ut we have data that indicates that many Canadians do want lower sodium.鈥
There is no official monitoring and evaluation program to track how well Health Canada鈥檚 sodium reduction strategy is working. Arcand and L鈥橝bb茅 hope to further study the food industry鈥檚 progress as the strategy reaches its deadline at the end of 2016.