New Packaged Foods Showed Little Sodium Reduction After FDA Targets

Reducing sodium can be difficult even for people who regularly check nutrition labels. Much of the sodium Americans consume is already added to packaged and prepared foods before they reach the table.

New research suggests that recently introduced packaged foods did not become lower in sodium overall after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued voluntary reduction targets in 2021.

Researchers compared the sodium content of products introduced before and after the guidance across nine food categories that contribute substantially to sodium intake. They found no meaningful overall difference. Sodium declined in meat products but increased in four categories, including breads, popcorn, corn-based snacks and dry soups.

The findings were presented at NUTRITION 2026, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, and have not yet undergone the full peer review required for publication in a scientific journal.

The study examined newly introduced or changed products listed in a commercial database. It did not evaluate every food on store shelves, determine whether manufacturers met each FDA target or measure how much sodium people consumed.

The FDA issued its first voluntary sodium-reduction goals in October 2021. The guidance encouraged food manufacturers and restaurants to gradually lower sodium across a wide range of product categories.

The targets were voluntary rather than legally binding. They were intended to help reduce population sodium intake without requiring consumers to make every reduction on their own.

Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health used the Mintel Global New Products Database to examine packaged foods introduced in the U.S. between 2015 and 2025.

The analysis included:

Across all nine categories combined, products introduced after the FDA guidance contained about the same amount of sodium per 100 grams as those introduced before it. The average difference was only 1 milligram per 100 grams and was not statistically significant.

Results varied by category.

Sodium was lower in newly introduced meat products after the guidance, with an average decline of 78 milligrams per 100 grams.

Four categories moved in the opposite direction. Sodium increased by an average of:

Researchers did not find significant changes in pizza, sandwiches and wraps, potato snacks or wet soups.

“Our findings suggest that sodium content in newly introduced products did not decrease across nine packaged food categories contributing to most dietary sodium in the U.S.,” said Kenny Kusnadi, the study’s first author and a graduate student researcher at Johns Hopkins.

The findings raise questions about whether manufacturers incorporated the voluntary goals into new product development. They do not, however, establish that the FDA policy had no effect across the broader market.

The database includes products that were newly launched or had changes to their formulation or packaging. Long-established products that remained on shelves without being recorded as new or changed may not have been included.

That matters because familiar, high-selling foods may contribute far more to population sodium intake than a newly introduced specialty product.

The abstract also does not report how many products were analyzed overall or within each food category. Smaller categories may be more affected by a limited number of products with unusually high or low sodium levels.

The analysis was not weighted by sales. A product purchased by relatively few people counted the same as one bought by millions, even though their effects on population intake would be very different.

The study also compared sodium per 100 grams, a standard method for examining product composition. That does not necessarily reflect how much someone would consume in a typical serving.

Dry soup products are one example. They can be highly concentrated before water is added, so sodium values based on the dry product may not match the amount in a prepared serving.

The research also cannot prove that the FDA guidance caused, or failed to cause, the differences between the earlier and later products. Other changes in the food market may have affected which products companies introduced and how they were formulated.

Still, the lack of an overall decline suggests that voluntary goals had not clearly translated into lower sodium across the new products included in the analysis.

“These findings add to a substantial body of evidence that voluntary, non-binding targets are a less effective approach to meaningfully reduce the sodium content of the food supply,” said Matti Marklund, the study’s senior author and an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins.

The researchers argued that stronger accountability measures may be needed. The study itself did not compare voluntary targets with mandatory limits, so it cannot determine which policy approach would work best.

For consumers, reading nutrition labels and comparing similar products can help reduce sodium intake. But personal choices are shaped by what manufacturers make available, and differences between brands can be substantial.

Cooking more often at home may also help some people control sodium, but that option is not equally practical for every household. Packaged and prepared foods remain a regular part of many diets because of cost, time, convenience and access.

The findings therefore point to both sides of sodium reduction. Individuals can compare labels and serving sizes, while manufacturers and regulators influence how much sodium is present in the food supply before shoppers make a choice.

The FDA issued a second phase of voluntary sodium-reduction targets in 2024. A broader evaluation that includes established products, restaurant foods, sales data and actual intake would provide a clearer picture of whether the targets are changing how much sodium Americans consume.

For now, the study offers a narrower conclusion: Among newly introduced products in nine major categories, sodium levels were no lower overall after the FDA issued its first voluntary goals.

The researchers reported no external funding.