Kraft (KFT) Readies “Sodium Light” Foods A Little Late

It is not lost on food producer Kraft (KFT) that sodium is a major cause of high blood pressure which contributes to the early death of some people. The press has seized on sodium rich food as a culprit in America’s rising health care costs. Kraft and other food companies may eventually face federal regulation or taxes on sodium content. Better to get ahead of the curve and start to reduce sodium content in most consumer products.

Kraft will make that move. The company says it will cut  the amount of sodium across its North American product line by an average of 10% between now and 2012.

The firm stated that “This amounts to the elimination of more than 10 million pounds — or more than 750 million teaspoons — of salt from some of North America’s most popular foods.” Some of Kraft’s products will have sodium reduced more than 10%. For example, since 2008  salts in Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Chicken Breast Strips wasreduced by 20 %.

Kraft dodged the issue of why it is so late to the sodium reduction derby. In 2008,  Stephen Havas, MD, MPH, American Medical Association vice president for science, quality and public health noted that “The deaths attributable to excess sodium intake represent a huge toll — the equivalent of a jumbo jet with more than 400 adults crashing every day of the year, year after year.” The medical community’s concerns about salt intake go back years.

Kraft has picked a convenient time to publicize its salt-reduction program. It hope to catch the consumer’s attention before the sodium issue becomes the next big health hazard that the public and politicians take on as one of the reasons that health care costs are growing so quickly when some conditions could be prevented by simple changes in diet.

Douglas A. McIntyre