FOOD INDUSTRY FAILS TO MEET TARGETS FOR CUTTING SODIUM

Voluntary sodium targets for the food industry have failed to significantly reduce the amount of salt consumers are getting in processed foods, suggesting additional measures are needed, Health Canada says. Four years ago, the federal department introduced phased- in targets for cutting sodium in 94 categories of processed food, with the goal of meeting that objective by the end of 2016. But a Health Canada report shows the food industry made no meaningful progress in curtailing salt levels in 45 of those categories (48 per cent) — based on a 2017 evaluation of about 10,500 sample products. In six of those categories, sodium content increased. In all, products in only 14 per cent of the categories hit their targets, the report found. “This is a release that shows, somewhat dismally, that industry really did not reduce their products down to the target and timelines that were indicated,” Dr. Norm Campbell, a professor of medicine at the University of Calgary who was a member of the federally established Sodium Working Group, said Tuesday.