PepsiCo Targets 15% Sodium Reduction in U.S. Lay’s Classic Potato Chips
As part of PepsiCo Positive (pep+), the company’s end-to-end strategic change, PepsiCo, Inc. unveiled two new, ambitious nutrition goals: lowering sodium and intentionally including significant sources of nutrition in the meals that consumers are reaching for.
“Excess sodium intake is a leading risk factor for diet-associated disease and disability, prompting global public health authorities to call on the food industry to reduce sodium in their products. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends less than 2000mg of sodium per day for adults. PepsiCo is setting a new sodium reduction goal, with category targets that consider guidance from public health experts including the World Health Organization, and are approximately 15-30% lower than the company’s current target for key convenient food categories. Our new sodium goal aims for a 15% sodium reduction in our U.S. Lay’s Classic Potato Chips, which would result in a sodium level of 140mg per 28g serving. According to the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the sodium intake in daily diets from savory snacks is currently around 3%,” according to a recent press release.
According to René Lammers, Executive Vice President and Chief Science Officer of PepsiCo, the firm is constantly innovating to reimagine the foods it creates and the processes it uses to make them, all while maintaining the highest quality for its customers.
“Consumers enjoy our products more than one billion times a day, which provides an opportunity – and the privilege – to have an impact. We set a high bar to improve the nutritional profile of our products, and these new goals reaffirm our ambitions,” Lammers mentioned.
Since 2015, PepsiCo has been on a journey to improve its portfolio, charting progress against a set of 2025 nutrition targets, made possible through the cutting-edge efforts of more than 2,600 Research & Development associates across 13 R&D centers around the world, including: – innovating on the Farm: Agricultural experts partner with farmers to grow potatoes that have the ideal flavor needed to deliver the savory taste consumers enjoy; – maintaining Taste: Seasoning experts identify ingredients and study salt crystal shapes and sizes to optimize flavor while using less sodium; – creating Flavor: Food developers design optimal flavors using seasonings, herbs, spices and dairy that contain less sodium overall.
“An industrywide approach is necessary to meaningfully reduce sodium intake and introduce important sources of nutrition to help diversify diets. And we need to take a leadership position to help be a catalyst for change,” Lammers summed up.