79% of Consumers Confused by Daily Sodium Intake

CHICAGOSeventy-nine percent of consumers are unaware of the recommended daily intake for sodium and 65 percent have concerns about sodium intake, according to a new study from recent HealthFocus® International (HFI).

According to the study, 29 percent of shoppers look for the sodium content consistently in each individual food they eat. Fifty-five percent reduce salt at the table when, in reality, it is only a small contributor to actual dietary sodium intake. Nearly 78 percent believe sea salt is a healthier alternative.

Sodium concerns are lowest when consumers cook from scratch at home, which allows them to better monitor their sodium intake by reading nutritional labels and controlling the amount of salt they add while preparing food. However, their task is much more complex with fast food and certain prepared foods because these labels often dont exist.

Consumers correctly identify processed packaged foods and fast food restaurants as the two big contributors to sodium intake. Specific foods and beverages include French fries, hamburgers and chicken from fast-food restaurants, and frozen meals and cured/processed meats at the retail level.

Most shoppers say that they are interested in purchasing lower sodium products. However, for those shoppers that are not interested, the barrier is still the perception that they wont taste as good. When presented with a list of 10 potential sodium claims such as low sodium, sodium free and reduced salt, there was little difference between the levels of interest in each claim. However, the claim that was most likely to entice consumers to buy a product was reduced salt, same taste. Consumers clearly want to be assured that lower sodium does not mean less taste.