ConAgra Sets New Goal for Product Portfolio

ConAgra Foods Inc. pledges to reduce salt across its portfolio of food products by 20 percent by 2015. Since 2006, the company has already removed more than 2 million pounds of salt from it products. Today's pledge adds 8 million pounds of salt to the equation, with the company ultimately removing 10 million pounds of salt from American diets each year.

 

"Sodium reduction is part of our ongoing work to make food more nutritious," says Gary Rodkin, ConAgra Foods CEO. "Americans need less salt in their diets, and they want less salt in their diets. We have the capability to meet consumer wants and needs -- food people love not only because it tastes good, but also because it's better for them."

 

The scope of the ConAgra Foods' salt reduction is broad and diverse, including as many as 20 brands, 160 product varieties (formulas) and all temperature categories in the supermarket.

 

"ConAgra Foods has the ability to make an impact on sodium in a very broad way," says Al Bolles, Ph.D., executive vice president, Research, Quality & Innovation, ConAgra Foods. "What that means is that we'll need to use different techniques to keep or enhance the taste of all types of food in our portfolio, from Hunt's tomatoes to Marie Callender's convenient meals to Fleischmann's table spreads. This is a definite challenge -- but one that is very worthwhile and one we are confident that we can meet."