Loblaw to reduce sodium in President's Choice by 20%

Loblaw Cos. has pledged to reduce sodium levels by 20% on average across 400 President’s Choice products, this year and next.

The Canadian retailer will focus on sauces, dressings, bakery items and other categories that have traditionally posed the biggest sodium-reduction challenges.

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“It used to be that the tastiness of a snack or meal could be measured in its saltiness — it’s sodium content,” said executive chairman Galen Weston. “To some degree that hasn’t changed. And, while many Canadians have learned to better control their own salt shaker, food manufacturers still wield an industrial-sized shaker, controlling the unseen sodium that seasons the Canadian diet.”

In the past four years, Loblaw has cut nearly 150,000 kilograms of sodium across 471 products sold under President’s Choice, no name, Farmer’s Market and other brands, and introduced new products with lower sodium levels.

“By the end of 2015, we will have put every single President's Choice product under the microscope and removed every extra bit of sodium, while maintaining the food safety and taste our customers expect,” according to Loblaw. “Our focus will be on the categories of processed and prepared foods where sodium levels are highest.”