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The FDA has issued a final rule allowing manufacturers to use suitable salt substitutes in 139 food categories, including bread, milk and condiments. The rule gives companies more flexibility under federal food standards, but does not require sodium cuts or name approved substitutes. The agency’s longer-term sodium targets remain in place.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued a final rule allowing manufacturers to use suitable salt substitutes in 139 food categories, including bread, milk and condiments. The change loosens federal standards that specify ingredients in some foods, giving companies more options as they seek to reduce sodium in products Americans commonly eat.
The rule applies to foods with standards of identity, which set requirements for a product’s composition to help ensure it matches what consumers expect. Some of those standards require salt, limiting manufacturers’ ability to change recipes even when they want to lower sodium. The FDA’s update permits suitable substitutes while requiring that they not alter a food’s “basic nature and essential characteristics.”
The agency did not list specific substitutes that manufacturers must use. According to the FDA’s approach as described by Food Dive, leaving the list open is intended to give companies flexibility and allow for future innovation. The rule permits changes; it does not require manufacturers to reformulate products or establish a sodium limit for each of the 139 categories.
The policy arrives alongside the FDA’s broader sodium-reduction effort. In 2024, the agency set voluntary targets intended to lower average U.S. sodium intake from more than 3,400 milligrams per day to 2,750 milligrams per day over three years. Those targets build on voluntary guidance issued in 2021 for food manufacturers and foodservice operators.
More Room to Reformulate Staples
The rule removes one regulatory barrier for companies considering lower-sodium recipes in familiar foods. That matters because packaged foods account for most dietary sodium, according to the report, and recipe changes across widely consumed categories could affect many people without requiring each shopper to make a separate product choice.
The public-health rationale is reducing sodium intake, which is linked to blood pressure and cardiovascular risk. The American Heart Association says nearly 90% of Americans consume more sodium than the recommended daily amount. That figure is the association’s assessment cited in the report; the FDA rule itself does not establish that the new flexibility will produce a particular health outcome.
Whether the change leads to meaningful reductions will depend on manufacturers’ decisions and the substitutes they choose. The FDA’s rule creates permission and flexibility, while the existing sodium targets remain voluntary. Consumers may therefore see different results across brands and food types rather than a uniform change.
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Voluntary Targets Set the Backdrop
The FDA began this phase of its sodium strategy with voluntary reduction guidelines in 2021. In 2024, it added targets intended to bring average daily sodium intake down over a three-year period. The rule on salt substitutes addresses a different part of the issue: it changes ingredient rules for foods whose standards of identity could prevent reformulation.
Progress under the earlier guidelines has been limited, according to research cited by Food Dive. Researchers found a median 3% decline in sodium content across food categories following the 2021 guidance, while sodium content rose in many restaurant foods. The 3% figure describes the median change reported across categories; it is not a measure of the effect of the new rule.
The International Dairy Foods Association, which represents dairy makers including cheese and yogurt producers, welcomed the update. It also urged the FDA to continue evaluating progress under its existing targets before taking further action, according to the report.
Industry Uptake Remains Unknown
The rule does not specify which substitutes manufacturers will use, how many companies will reformulate, or how much sodium any resulting changes will remove. It also does not set a timeline for product changes. The FDA’s condition that substitutes preserve a food’s basic nature and essential characteristics establishes a limit, but the source material does not detail how particular substitutes or products will be assessed in practice.
It remains unclear whether the added flexibility will accelerate progress toward the FDA’s voluntary intake target. The cited research on the 2021 guidance found only a 3% median decline across food categories, and the new rule’s effect has not yet been measured. The report does not provide a new agency estimate for sodium reductions attributable to the rule.
Manufacturers Decide on Changes
Food makers can now consider suitable substitutes when reviewing products covered by the 139 standards of identity. Any recipe changes will depend on manufacturers’ choices and must meet the rule’s requirement that the product retain its basic nature and essential characteristics. The source material does not identify a deadline for reformulation or a schedule for specific products to reach stores.
The FDA’s three-year sodium targets, announced in 2024, provide the next broader measure of progress. The agency is expected to evaluate movement under those targets; the dairy association has asked it to continue that review before considering additional action. The extent of industry adoption and the resulting change in sodium intake remain to be seen.
Key Questions
What did the FDA’s final rule change?
It allows manufacturers to use suitable salt substitutes in 139 foods covered by federal standards of identity, subject to the requirement that a substitute not change the food’s basic nature and essential characteristics.
Does the rule require companies to reduce sodium?
No. The rule gives manufacturers flexibility to use substitutes; it does not require reformulation or set a sodium-reduction amount for the covered foods.
Which foods are covered?
The report names bread, milk and condiments among the foods included. It does not provide a complete list of all 139 categories.
Did the FDA name approved salt substitutes?
No specific substitutes are listed in the rule as described in the report. Manufacturers may use suitable substitutes, provided the food retains its basic nature and essential characteristics.
How much sodium will the rule remove from the food supply?
That is not yet known. The rule permits recipe changes but does not require them, and the FDA has not provided an estimate of the sodium reduction that will result.
Source: rss
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