Spring/Summer 2010 - Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products ...

news
By Mandy Gross
FAPC Manager of Communications Services
mandy.gross@okstate.edu
T
he Institute of
Medicine released a report
by an expert committee recommending
the Food and Drug Administration
set standards for salt added to
processed foods and prepared meals.
The report indicates Americans,
on average, consume 50 percent more
sodium than the maximum amount
that is recommended. When compared
to the amounts considered adequate
for daily consumption, the level of
sodium being consumed by Americans
equates to almost 125 percent the levels
recommended.
“The committee’s task was to consider
what would be the best means
to reduce sodium levels in the U.S.
diet,” said Christina DeWitt, FAPC
food chemist. “It was determined that
voluntary methods would not be sufficient
as there had been more than 40
years of voluntary
efforts to reduce
sodium, and data
clearly shows in
that time period
sodium intake rose
steadily over a period
of years and has
remained steady at
the current levels for
nearly a decade.”
The committee also
reviewed the sources of sodium when
making its recommendations. The
research reviewed by the committee
indicated most sodium in the diet is
found in the processed foods and prepared
meals Americans purchase in
grocery stores and restaurants, DeWitt
said.
“The report cites industry has
made many efforts to reduce sodium,
but in a hearing before the committee
by industry representatives, it was
clearly illustrated that efforts to reduce
sodium was many times thwarted by
industry lacking a ‘level playing field’
with higher level sodium products,”
DeWitt said.
It also was noted anecdotally that
current regulations for claims placed
Report released
to reduce salt
in processed,
prepared food
on products with reduced or lower sodium
make it difficult for industry to
create products that are not obviously
different in flavor to the consumer
when compared to their higher sodium
counterpart.
It was suggested claims of “reduced”
or “low” sodium now send
“red flags” to the consumer causing
them to equate those products with
“poor” taste. The committee’s solution
was to suggest the FDA set standards
for the salt added to foods to “level the
playing field” for sodium reduction
efforts.
In addition, because the consumer
easily notes large reductions in sodium,
it was suggested by the committee
that sodium reductions be done gradually,
DeWitt said.
“The report cited research that
indicates, depending on the product,
small reductions can often be made
without consumers noticing a difference
in product flavor,” she said. “The
report, therefore, suggests the best way
to reduce the sodium levels consumed
in the U.S. is to set standards for the
salt added to processed and prepared
meals and reduce the salt allowed in a
step-wise gradual manner.”
Spring/Summer 2010 | 7