Industry activity

In May 2009 the Agency published new voluntary salt reduction targets for 2012 for 80 categories of foods and revised targets for a limited range of food categories for 2010, replacing the previous targets for 2010, which were set in 2006.

The aim of the targets is to help guide the food industry as to the type of foods in which salt reductions are required, and the level of reduction needed to help progress towards the FSA's strategic plan objective of reducing the population average salt intake to 6g per day.

The number of target categories has been reduced from 85 to 80 as some were redefined or joined together when, following discussions with industry, it became clear that separate categories were not necessary for some foods. The targets cover 80 categories of processed foods, including everyday foods such as bread, bacon, ham, breakfast cereals and cheese, and convenience foods such as pizza, ready meals, savoury snacks, cakes and pastries.

Industry progress
Unless otherwise stated, the following statements of progress by industry against the 2010 salt targets refer to those set by the Agency in 2006.

UK retailers, including Asda, Boots, Budgens, Co-op, Iceland, Marks and Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Somerfield, Spar, Tesco and Waitrose, are all working towards the FSA's voluntary salt reduction targets.

• In January 2008 Asda indicated that it had met all the FSA's salt targets.
• Boots has already met the voluntary salt reduction targets ahead of the 2010 deadline.
• Budgens, Iceland and Somerfield are working towards achieving the salt targets by 2010 and have products that already meet the targets.
• The Co-operative has an ongoing salt reduction policy and already meets the original FSA salt targets across all of its own-brand lines. Some key ranges, including bread, ready meals, sandwiches, soup and sauces, met the FSA 2010 salt targets 2 years ahead of the deadline.
• Marks and Spencer is aiming to meet the FSA 2010 targets in key areas as a maximum, rather than an average.
• Morrisons are on track to meet the FSA’s 2010 salt targets and have already succeeded in ensuring all breakfast cereals, ready meals and 90% of its pre-packed and fresh breads have achieved these targets.
• Sainsbury's is working towards achieving the targets and states that it has already met the target for its own-brand standard sliced bread, which is one of the top three products in Sainsbury's shoppers' baskets. It has also met the 2010 targets in 80% of its own-brand products, including breakfast cereal, ready meals, bread and soups.
• Spar is aiming to meet the targets by 2010.
• Half of Tesco own-brand products now meet the 2010 salt targets.
• Waitrose meets the salt targets for all the categories highlighted in the FSA campaign. Similar progress has been achieved across all remaining categories with many products at or below the targets originally set by the Agency for 2010.

Major manufacturers, such as Arla Foods, Bernard Matthews, Birds Eye, Cadbury Schweppes, Heinz, Kelloggs, Kerry Foods, Kraft, Mars, McCain, Nestlé, Northern Foods, PepsiCo, Premier Foods, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, United Biscuits and Vion Foods, are all working towards achieving the salt reduction targets.

• Arla Foods has committed to up to a 50% salt reduction in its soft cheese range and has already achieved a reduction of 15% in butter.
• Allied Bakeries is set to achieve the 2010 salt reduction targets across all products by December 2009.
• Bernard Matthews, Cadbury Schweppes and Northern Foods are aiming to meet the targets by 2010.
• Birds Eye ready meals now all contain less than 2g of salt.
• Ninety-seven percent of Burton's Foods products meet the original salt targets for 2010 and their products on average meet their target categories.
• Heinz has introduced its standard Heinz Tomato Ketchup with salt levels that meet the FSA revised target for 2010. Heinz has also reduced the amount of salt in baked beans and canned pasta by around one-third and in children's pasta ranges by 59%.
• Kellogg’s has reduced the amount of salt in its products by 40% over the last decade. In early 2009 the amount of salt in Kellogg’s Bran Flakes was reduced by 20%, Kellogg’s All-Bran’s by 25% in 2008 and in 2007 Kellogg’s took a significant 50% of salt out of Special K.
• Kerry Foods has reduced the level of salt in its standard cheese slices by 32% and in its reduced fat slices by 21%.
• Kraft has reduced levels of salt in its cheese spreads and snack products by 33%.
• Mars has achieved a salt reduction of up to 35% across their Dolmio, Uncle Ben's and Seeds of Change sauces. The majority of their products already meet the original 2010 salt targets and they are now focussed on working towards the 2012 targets.
• McCain has halved the salt content of some of its potato products and has launched a 'no added salt' product. McCain is continuing to make further reductions where feasible in order to achieve the 2012 salt targets which will represent a 22% reduction in average levels of salt across its range compared with the 2001 baseline.
• Across the range, Nestle now meets the FSA 2010 target for its breakfast cereals.
• In 2009 PepsiCo removed another 10% of salt from Walkers crisps, Walkers Baked and Sensations. A standard 34.5g bag of Walkers crisps now contains on average less than half a gram of salt. Salt in snacks such as Quavers, Monster Munch, Wotsits and French Fries has been reduced by between 25% and 55%. Having reached the FSA's original 2010 targets, PepsiCo is now working towards the 2012 targets for salt reduction.
• Premier Foods is reformulating many Batchelors products to meet the 2010 targets, for example its Batchelors range of savory rice, for which sodium levels will be reduced by up to 70%.
• Unilever has reformulated its products to meet the FSA's 2010 salt reduction target and reduced salt on average by 30% in its Knorr, Chicken Tonight, Knorr Ragu and Colman's ranges, and has also made significant reductions in its Hellmann's range.
• United Biscuits has reduced the amount of salt in its top selling biscuits by about a fifth. In its crisps and snacks portfolio it has achieved a 13% sodium reduction and will continue to make further reductions.
• From January 2008, Vion Food Group (a Dutch bacon manufacturer providing 25% of UK bacon sales) reduced the average level of salt in its products to 3.5g salt per 100g.

Since 2008, the Agency has been working with industry to secure voluntary commitments on healthier catering. More than 40 of the UK's major catering companies (including two of the largest suppliers to the food service sector) have published the activities they are undertaking on procurement, menu planning, consumer information and kitchen practice. All companies have activities relating to salt reduction, the vast majority using the FSA's salt targets to benchmark and monitor progress, while others are using the Agency's traffic light nutrient guidelines in a similar way.

The companies involved include: Brakes, Compass Group, Costa, KFC, McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Subway.

• Brakes has an ongoing salt reduction programme, and 70% of its product sales now meet the FSA's 2010 salt targets (an increase from 50% in January 2008).
• Compass Group, a large contract caterer that provides meals to schools and hospitals, has a programme to review levels of salt in products and requires suppliers to meet, or to be working towards, the FSA salt targets.
• Costa announced that in 2008 it reduced the salt level in paninis by approximately 14% which now meet the FSA 2010 salt targets for bread products. The company also stated that, where possible, the recipes for all food products will be reformulated in 2009 to meet the FSA 2010 salt targets.
• KFC no longer pre-salts its fries.
• McDonalds has reduced the amount of salt in its products by between 14% and 75% and is continuing to make further reductions.
• Pizza Hut has had a salt reduction programme since 2004, reporting a 30% reduction to date across its menus.
• By June 2009, Subway announced that all Subs will have a 15% reduction in sodium. By 2010, more than 75% of their Subs and salads will meet the FSA 2010 salt target.

The Association of Cereal Food Manufacturers (ACFM), Biscuit, Chocolate, Cake and Confectionery Association (BCCCA), British Retail Consortium (BRC), Federation of Bakers (FoB), Food and Drink Federation (FDF), and the Snacks, Nuts and Crisps Manufacturers Association (SNACMA) are all working towards salt reduction.

• Between 1998-2007, the ACFM has reduced the amount of sodium in breakfast cereals by 44%.
• Since February 2006, the BCCCA has further reduced levels of salt in biscuits by between 25% and 45% and in cakes by 25%.
• BRC members have already met, or are very close to meeting all the original 2010 salt targets.
• The FoB has been working with the FSA to reduce the amount of salt in bread and has achieved a reduction of over 30% in pre-packed sliced bread, which accounts for about 80% of the bread sold in the UK.
• The FDF, as part of Project Neptune, has reduced the amount of salt in soups and sauces by a quarter (25% and 29% respectively) between 2003 and 2005.
• In 2007, SNACMA achieved salt reductions of 13% in crisps, 32% in extruded snacks and 27% in pelleted snacks.