Campbell Soup Uses Special Sea Salt for Sodium Reduction

On Wednesday, Campbell Soup Company, Camden, NJ, announced that it will release a new line of reformulated soups in Aug. 2006 that cuts existing sodium content in select soups from 25% to 40%. They key ingredient in the reformulated soups is a form of natural, low-sodium sea salt. The new products will include tomato, chicken noodle, cream of mushroom, and some of the Chunky and Healthy Request® soups, as well as 12 soups targeted toward children. The company noted that the method of production for the sea salt reduces sodium content while capturing other minerals. The resultant salt does not have a bitter aftertaste, notes George Dowdie, vice president of research and development.

Sodium reduction has been a thorn in Campbell's side for decades, culminating in a legal battle that resulted in the company dropping its "Soup is good food" slogan, partially due to the products' high sodium content. While the company has gradually worked to reduce sodium levels in its soups, previous reduced-sodium lines didn't garner much success. According to company testing and research, 80% of consumers who tried the reformulated soups rated them as good as or better than the original products, says M. Carl Johnson, III, senior vice president and chief strategy officer.

The company notes that the reformulation process involved much more than simply swapping existing salt with the reduced-sodium sea salt. Dowdie notes that the company has been working on this line for years, fine-tuning it to ensure that the reformulated soups didn't trade the loss of sodium for flavor.

Campbell's is also planning to reformulate its V8® vegetable juice to deliver 480 mg sodium per 8-oz. serving vs. the current level of 590 mg.