Kraft plans to get the salt out (some of it, at least)

Kraft Foods Inc. plans to reduce sodium by an average of 10 percent over the next two years for North American brands including Oscar Mayer and Velveeta.

Kraft's move follows similar efforts by Campbell Soup Co. and ConAgra Foods Inc. Northfield-based Kraft is cutting salt levels in more than 1,000 products, Susan Davison, a spokeswoman, said today by telephone. Sodium levels in Oscar Mayer bologna are to be reduced by 17 percent. Some flavors of Easy Mac Cups, microwaveable macaroni and cheese with as much as 29 percent of the daily sodium intake recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, are to see a drop of 20 percent.

"It's good for consumers, and, if done properly, it's good for business," Rhonda Jordan, Kraft's president of health and wellness, 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."

Some products, like Grey Poupon mustard and Crystal Light beverages, will not be changed because they are already low in sodium, Davison said. A serving of Grey Poupon Dijon mustard has 5 percent of the FDA's recommended daily intake of sodium, according to the company's Web site. Kraft has more than 100 products with either low, reduced or no sodium, including Hint of Salt Ritz crackers, she said.

Kraft fell 4 cents to $29.65 at 3:33 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares had risen 9.2 percent before today.

The food industry may face sodium limits from the U.S. government if it doesn't voluntarily reduce salt content in processed foods, said Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in an editorial published this month in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

American adults consume an estimated 3,900 milligrams of sodium a day -- more than twice the maximum recommended by U.S. government dietary guidelines, according to a Stanford University study published in the same journal. In a survey last summer of U.S. consumers by market researcher Mintel, 25.7 percent said they always watched their salt intake, compared with the 24.2 percent who said they always watch sugar.

In the U.S., 4.1 percent of new food and beverage products had reduced, low or no sodium this year through March 17, compared with 2.5 percent in 2007, Chicago-based Mintel said.

Campbell, the world's biggest soup maker, said it has more than quadrupled the number of products with lower sodium levels to more than 110 since 2005, the Camden, New Jersey-based company said in January. Campbell reduced sodium in more than 90 soups, including its condensed tomato soup, and V8 vegetable juice drinks.

ConAgra, the Omaha, Nebraska-based maker of Healthy Choice frozen dinners and Hunt's ketchup, said in October that it would cut a fifth of the salt in its products by 2015 as it tries to meet consumer demand for healthier food.