Sodium reduction efforts lagging as year-end deadline approaches: Health Canada

As part of the Healthy Eating Strategy, Health Canada has been working with food industry stakeholders to gradually and safely reduce sodium levels in the food supply. It recently conducted a study to assess progress being made toward the voluntary sodium reduction targets that were set in 2020 for many processed food categories. Those targets were intended to guide industry in reducing the sodium content of foods by the end of 2025 to help bring the average sodium intake of Canadians to a safe level of 2300 mg/day.

While an essential nutrient, the body only needs small of amounts of sodium to maintain good health. Too much sodium increases the risk of chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, which affects about one in four adults in Canada. High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, which continue to be leading causes of death in Canada, after cancer.

Most people in Canada eat too much sodium, with the majority coming from processed and commercially prepared foods. The first set of voluntary sodium reduction targets were set in 2012 with the goal of meeting them by 2016. However, when progress was measured in 2017, Health Canada found that despite modest reductions, the sodium targets were not met for most food categories.

In December 2020, Health Canada released revised voluntary sodium reduction targets for many processed food categories. The industry was encouraged to meet these targets by the end of this year.

To assess progress toward the 2025 targets, Health Canada surveyed nine processed food categories:

• white pantry bread and rolls, bagels, croissants, and flatbreads;
• whole wheat and mixed grain pantry bread and rolls, bagels, croissants, and flat breads;
• pizza crust;
• hearth bread;
• hearth and non-hearth bread with savoury additions;
• ready-to-eat cereals;
• processed cheese and other cheese products;
• ready-to-serve soups; and
• tomato sauce.

Health chose these food categories because its targets were either revised in 2020, it is a staple food category, or it is an important contributor to the intake of sodium by Canadian residents.

Health Canada sampled more than 1,200 food labels from grocery stores across Canada between October 2023 and July 2024. The collected sample represented around 80 per cent of market sales (kilograms), except for pizza crust, which was around 60 per cent.

Overall, the results indicate that only modest progress has been made toward the 2025 sodium targets. Hearth breads (e.g. baguettes, crusted bread, artisan breads, rye bread, and pumpernickel bread) made the most progress, achieving 40 per cent of the 2025 target reduction. White bread products, breads with savoury additions (e.g. olives, garlic, onion, and cheese), processed cheeses, and ready-to-serve soups made less progress. Four categories had higher sodium levels compared to 2017: pizza crust, tomato sauce, ready-to-eat cereals, and whole wheat and mixed grain bread products.

Three categories (ready-to-serve soups, white bread products, and tomato sauce) reduced sodium in their saltiest products close to the maximum level targets.

Health Canada cautions, “These results are not intended to be a representative or comprehensive indication of the overall food supply. However, they are a critical checkpoint in assessing sodium reduction efforts in the categories studied.”

For more information on the assessment, click here.