Kraft To Cut Salt In Its North American Foods, Affects 1,000+ Products

[babylonsister]

Kraft To Cut Salt In Its North American Foods

SARAH SKIDMORE | 03/18/10 08:38 AM | AP


PORTLAND, Ore. — Kraft Foods Inc. said Wednesday that it will cut the salt in its products that are sold in North America by an average of 10 percent over the next two years to appeal to health-conscious consumers.

The changes at Kraft, the largest U.S. food maker, will affect more than 1,000 products and eliminate more than 10 million pounds of salt over the two-year period, the company said.

Kraft and other food makers have cut their use of sodium in recent years. Among other cuts, the company said this latest move will cut the salt in Oscar Mayer Bologna by 17 percent, Easy Mac Cups by 20 percent and Velveeta by 10 percent.

"We are reducing sodium because it's good for consumers and, if done properly, it's good for business," Rhonda Jordan, president of health & wellness at Kraft Foods, said in a statement. "A growing number of consumers are concerned about their sodium intake, and we want to help them translate their intentions into actions."

Health experts generally agree Americans eat too much salt and the vast majority of it comes from processed food. The excess is dangerous because salt contributes to high blood pressure, which can lead to stroke, kidney disease, heart disease or heart failure.

more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/18/kraft-to-cut-salt-in-its_n_504703.html

[hobbit709]

1. Price of salt must have gone up.

The no salt added product always cost more than the same with salt.
Kraft didn't do this out of the goodness of their heart, this was a bean counter decision, just like every other corporate decision.

[my2sense]

2. Exactly! - No way are they

doing this for the good of the public. Greedy bastids don't change stripes.

[jmowreader]

10. "Lower sodium" is a powerful marketing phrase

Same with "low fat" and "low cholesterol."

Kraft's problem is they are largely a cheese maker, and cheese is almost by default a high-sodium food; you have to put salt in cheese so it doesn't rot while it's being made.

[unblock]

11. "and, if done properly, it's good for business"

i.e., combined with an advertising campaign (including free press) that increases sales.

same krafty taste but only half as lethal!


seriously, they improve their product by spending LESS on ingredients.
yes, they will have to spend money retooling their assembly lines and possibly shifting other ingredients around (why do i have this fear they'll just jack up the msg to compensate?) but it should be a clear win for them.

[GoCubsGo]

14. More likely, their sales have gone down

Every other person I know is on some sort of blood pressure medication. Lots of people out there are watching their sodium intake on their doctor's orders. That means they aren't eating much of that mac 'n' cheese, those salt-coated crackers, the lunch meats, or that biggest abomination of all: Lunchables.

Another possible reason is that people might be getting away from the pre-packaged, processed crap. Thank the recession for that, as much of it ain't cheap. Then there's the Food Network, which I think has encouraged people to do more cooking from scratch. Having watched Alton Brown's macaroni and cheese episode a couple of nights ago, I can't see making that any other way than from scratch from now on. I suspect I am far from alone there.

[robinblue]

3. very good to see this happening finally.

[endless october]

4. i watch calories and fat very carefully.

leave my salt alone.

i went from being obese to being thin. i eat low fat foods often. when you make them low salt too, they taste like cardboard.

[babylonsister]

5. The beauty is, you can add salt, as much as you want. But it's

sort of tough to take it out. And congrats on your weight loss; it's not easy.

[endless october]

6. sometimes i think keeping it off is the difficult part.

they are correct when they say it's not a diet, and it doesn't end. however, it's worth it.

[FarCenter]

7. That works out to about 20 milligrams/day per person

[Dappleganger]

8. 10 percent is a joke!

Get back to me when it's 30 percent or more. Some of that food is so salty it's mouth-numbing.

[cayanne]

9. Needs to be lowered 50%

I had no idea how much salt I was taking in until I developed kidney disease. Lowering sodium intake is the same as lowering saturated fat and sugar intake.

[unblock]

12. any bets they're gonna jack up the msg to compensate?

[ensho]

13. a good move but I still won't buy anything Kraft

nt

[CoffeeCat]

15. PR stunt?

I'm so not dazzled by this announcement. Ten percent in two years...are they kidding?

One slice of Oscar Mayer Bologna--and we all know how thin one of those pieces is--has a whopping 463 mg of sodium. That's quite a bit
for a small slice. So, if Kraft is reducing the sodium by 10 percent (463 mg - 46 mg), their bologna will still have 417 mg of sodium.

Here's the kicker. Kraft's bologna has 175 calories and 143 of those calories come from fat. That's 16 grams of fat per slice!

What health-conscious person is going to run to the shelves to stock up on this stuff? Kraft has got to be kidding.

I won't even get into the other foods mentioned by Kraft. Their macaroni and cheese products are loaded with salt. Cutting the salt, even
by fifty percent, would still leave consumers with a high-sodium meal.

This is probably Kraft responding to consumers wanting healthier choices. I've noticed many Kraft promotions lately. There are coupon pads
next to many of their products, and coupons taped to many of their products. I think many of these name-brand companies are finding the current
economy a challenge. Their products are more expensive than other brands, especially generic brands. Why buy Kraft Mac & Cheese for 85 cents
a box, when you can buy a generic box for 45 cents?

These companies have to find ways to woo consumer dollars their way. Sometimes, that involves making announcements that tout how much the company
cares about the public. If people associate products, such as Oscar Mayer bologna and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese with love and health--they'll be
more apt to choose that product.

I think all of this is silly, but it has the potential to boost sales for Kraft.

[Leftist Agitator]

16. In other news, Kraft announces that its food will soon taste like utter shit.

Film at 11.