industry perspectives on regulation and labeling of salt and sodium

Industry Perspectives on Regulation and Labeling of Salt

and Sodium

Robert Earl, MPH, RDGrocery Manufacturers Association

July 9, 2008Nutrient Essentials

National Restaurant AssociationChicago, Illinois

The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) represents the world’s leading food, beverage and consumer products companies. The Association promotes sound public policy, champions initiatives that increase productivity and growth and helps to protect the safety and security of the food supply through scientific excellence. The GMA board of directors is comprised of chief executive officers from the Association’s member companies. The $2.1 trillion food, beverage and consumer packaged goods industry employs 14 million workers, and contributes over $1 trillion in added value to the nation’s economy. For more information, visit the GMA Web site at www.gmaonline.org.

General Principles

• Policies should serve the best interest of the public

• Policies should be compatible with and support the Dietary Guidelines

• FDA should support its 1982 assessment of salt

General Principles

• Functionality and safety are critical• Small steps in reducing sodium

intake are successful in meeting or moving toward recommendations

• Efforts should focus on overall dietary patterns and food choices

• Incremental reductions help consumers reduce sodium

General Principles

• One-size-fits-all regulatory approach will not work

• Consider all factors related to hypertension and heart disease

• Additional research is required relating to health outcomes, taste, salt alternatives, and consumer understanding and behavior

Regulation of Salt

• FDA should support its 1982 assessment of salt

• GRAS process has worked for over 50 years to evaluate common food ingredients

• Salt, used since antiquity, clearly meets GRAS definition

Safety Principles for Essential Nutrients

• Nutrients, even essential nutrients, can have adverse effects at high levels of intake—not unique to salt

• All nutrients can be present in the diet at levels that cause deficiencies, optimal or excessive nutrition

• Sodium, at normal dietary levels, is safe from a toxicological point of view

FDA Salt/Sodium Policy

• Further work will be extremely cumbersome

• GRAS is not determined by dietary modeling, but by toxicology


• All risk factors and research must factor into any FDA policy• Diet, physical activity, weight,

smoking, alcohol consumption, genetics, etc.

• MyPyramid and DASH dietary patterns can successfully reduce sodium and improve blood pressure


• Policies should not rely on assumptions

• “Progress” in hypertension risk reduction is a better strategy• Adoption of overall dietary patterns• Adequate intakes of foods and nutrients• Avoid unintended consequences of

single-nutrient focus

Functionality and Safety

• Critical considerations—• Chemically leavened products: sodium

ingredients required for functionality• Cheese: sodium content of milk is fixed

and salt required for cheese manufacture• Smoked fish: salt required for C. bot

prevention• Cured and fermented meats: sodium

compounds required for microbial control

Collaboration and Partnership

• Government focus should be on improvement of overall food choices and dietary patterns

• Food and dietary pattern changes overall will benefit health generally, improve sodium intake levels

Collaboration and Partnership

• “One-size-fits-all” approach should not be adopted

• Food industry supports collaboration with FDA and other government agencies

Labeling and Consumer Information

• All packaged food products disclose amount of sodium and percent Daily Value

• Sodium claims in labeling provide expanded product options for consumers

• Products with claims offer positive choices


• “Healthy” labeled products are growing in number

• FDA expected and encouraged this in 2005 final rule for “Healthy” nutrient content claim


• Warning messages on salt containers may be counter productive

• Undermine positive message about iodized salt

• Unclear if required statement would lead to unintended consequences


• More consumer research is required• Label claims evaluation• Consumer acceptance

Sources of Sodium, c. 2003-2004

Source: NHANES 2003-2004; Courtesy of General Mills Bell Institute

Soup3%

Top 20 Individual Food Sources of Sodium

in the American DietBased on the Combination of Frequency of Consumption and Sodium

Content

• Meat pizza• White bread• Processed cheese• Hot dogs• Spaghetti w/sauce• Ham • Catsup• Cooked rice• White roll• Wheat tortilla

• Salty snacks/corn chips• Whole milk• Cheese pizza• Noodle soups• Eggs

(whole/fried/scrambled)• Macaroni w/cheese• Milk, 2%• French fries• Creamy salad dressings• Potato chips

Source: NHANES 2003-2004; Courtesy of General Mills Bell Institute

Sources of Sodium

• Over half have sodium levels below FDA “healthy” level of 480 mg (per portion)

• 3 are at FDA “low” of 140 mg or less

• Vegetables, fruits, and whole grains largely absent

Sodium Reduction Over TimeUSDA

Hdbk 8, 1963

USDAHG Bull 72,

1981

USDANDB, SR 20,

2007

Food Serving mg Na mg Na mg Na ChangePeas, frozen ½ c 497 N/A 95 - 81 %

Tuna, canned, oil

55 g 490 196 218 - 50 %

Chicken noodle soup, canned, condensed, prepared

1 c 1,000 1,124 649 - 35 %

Bread, white, enriched

1 slice 254 258 180 - 29 %

Dietary Guidelines & MyPyramid

• ≤ 2,300 mg/d recommendation• Food patterns for adults range

from 1,800 – 2,700 mg/d• Focus on foods that must be

prepared at home

MyPyramid

• Sample menus for consumers average about 2,900 mg sodium per day

• Lowest is about 1,600 mg/d• 4 of 7 are over 3,000 mg/d

Questions

• When will fruits, vegetables, and whole grains be “Top 10” consumed foods?

• What to do about potassium intake?• How to encourage changes to food

group consumption as well as to sodium levels over time?

• What are incentives for industry?• Where do we meet the consumer?

Take A Peak MyPyramid Promotion

• Assess effect of incremental changes • Menu modeling overview

• Target menus developed for adult female• 7 days of menus • Incremental changes over 3 weeks • Evaluated against MyPyramid, Dietary

Guidelines, and Healthy Eating Index (HEI)


• HEI score increased over 3 weeks from base from 41 to 93.5

• Met MyPyramid food group recommendations

• Met DG shortfall nutrients• Calcium, fiber, magnesium, potassium, vt.

A, vt. C

• Met DG targets for macronutrients• Sodium reduced by 32%


• Demonstrates that small, incremental changes to food choices over time can meet dietary, food, and nutrient recommendations

Additional Research Needs

• FDA and government support and advocate for—• CVD outcomes trial• Dietary Guidelines food & activity

study• Dietary Guidelines barriers study• Salt taste mechanism and salt

alternatives

Conclusion

• Food industry takes seriously product development issues addressing nutrition & health—including sodium content

• Alternatives and additional research will be better priorities for government and public

www.gmaonline.org

industry perspectives on regulation and labeling of salt and sodium

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