Nestle reducing salt in hundreds of its products worldwide

Nestle, the world’s biggest food and drink company, has said it will accelerate reducing salt in all of its brands worldwide to support a new World Health Organization salt intake target.

The United Nations agency has recommended that individuals consume no more than 5 grams of salt per day.

Nestle said that salt in hundreds of products, including soups, noodles, frozen meals and pizzas, would be reduced by 10 percent over the next three years.

The Vevey, Switzerland-based company began reducing salt in some of its products in 2005. Nestle says it is already using 15 percent less salt in Stouffer’s Mac & Cheese in the United States, 25 percent less salt in Maggi noodles in Brazil and 20 percent less salt in Buitoni frozen pizzas in France.

Nestle said that it was working with US life sciences company Chromocell Corp. to find compounds that taste similar to salt to potentially replace the real thing.

“We have made great strides in reducing the salt content of our food products in recent years and we want to build on that progress,” Henri-Pierre Lenoble, manager of nutrition, health and wellness at Nestlé Food, said in a statement Monday. “Our goal is to offer consumers products that enable them to make practical, healthy nutritional choices.”

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