PepsiCo is getting ready to slash the amount of sodium in its food products, including Lay's potato chips.
In a statement, the company said that by 2030, it plans to hit "two new ambitious nutrition goals," in line with World Health Organization recommendations.
"We are in a constant cycle of innovation to reimagine the foods we make and how we make them so we can bring better choices to our consumers, without ever compromising on taste," said René Lammers, Executive Vice President and Chief Science Officer for PepsiCo. "Consumers enjoy our products more than one billion times a day, which provides an opportunity – and the privilege – to have an impact. We set a high bar to improve the nutritional profile of our products, and these new goals reaffirm our ambitions."
First, PepsiCo aims to reduce the amount of sodium in at least 75% of its food products worldwide.
According to the World Health Organization, adults worldwide consume 4,310 mg of sodium, which is over twice the organization's recommended limit of 2,000 mg per day.
While PepsiCo didn't specify which products would be affected by the effort, it did say the formula for Lay's chips would be changing.
"Our new sodium goal aims for a 15% sodium reduction in our U.S. Lay's Classic Potato Chips, which would result in a sodium level of 140mg per 28g serving," the company said.
Second, PepsiCo will seek to promote nutritionally diverse diets by helping increase consumption of "diverse ingredients" such as legumes, plant-based proteins, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds in its food offerings.
"The company aims to deliver 145 billion portions of diverse ingredients annually in its global convenient foods portfolio by 2030. Each portion will provide approximately 10% of the suggested daily amount of a diverse ingredient," PepsiCo said.
The move to reduce sodium builds off a process started in 2015 to improve the company's nutrition portfolio.
"An industrywide approach is necessary to meaningfully reduce sodium intake and introduce important sources of nutrition to help diversify diets. And it's important for us to take a leadership position to help be a catalyst for change," Lammers said.
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