Starting December 14, cheese, bread, canned vegetables and even chocolate products will be able to legally contain salt substitutes instead of straight sodium chloride, under a final rule the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued on October 13. The change touches 139 federal food standards, expanding manufacturers' options for using salt substitutes in standardized foods as the agency keeps pressing the country to eat less sodium.
According to NBC Palm Springs, the FDA announced the rule as part of its broader effort to address excessive sodium consumption and its public-health impact, saying it hopes expanded manufacturer options will encourage sodium reductions throughout the U.S. food supply. The agency has said Americans consume too much sodium, and health officials have long linked high sodium intake to elevated blood pressure and an increased risk of heart disease and stroke, per that reporting.
The mechanics of the rule break down into two layers, according to FoodNavigator: the FDA is directly amending 80 standards of identity, and because 59 more standards cross-reference those amended ones, the flexibility ripples out to 139 standards in total. Categories affected include many types of cheese, bread, rolls and buns, self-rising flour and cornmeal, and macaroni and noodle products, the outlet reports, with other coverage noting canned vegetables and fish, tomato products, chocolate and cocoa products, margarine, mayonnaise and certain syrups also fall under the new flexibility.
What Counts as a Salt Substitute
The FDA defines a salt substitute as a safe and suitable ingredient, or combination of ingredients, that replaces some or all of the added sodium chloride in a food, reduces sodium and still performs at least one of salt's functions — whether that is flavor, texture or preservation. Potassium chloride is one of the most common replacements already used in the food industry, though the rule does not require manufacturers to use any specific substitute, per The Hill.
Crucially, nothing in the rule forces a company's hand. Reformulation remains voluntary, meaning manufacturers are not required to change their recipes, the same outlet notes. There is also no special front-of-package disclosure mandated for salt substitutes, though the station's report and others confirm any substituted ingredient generally must still show up in the product's ingredient list.
The Federal Register filing underpinning the rule spells out the legal basis: the FDA is acting under sections 201, 401, 402 and 701 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, according to the pre-publication Federal Register document. That filing also confirms there is no regulatory requirement or penalty for a manufacturer that chooses not to use the new flexibility, and a related Federal Register notice describes the rule as amending standards that specify salt as a required or optional ingredient so substitutes can now be used in standardized foods.
A Rule Born From Public Comment — and Pushback
The FDA did not finalize this quietly. The rule drew more than 120 public comments, with some commenters raising concerns about the safety of potassium-based substitutes for people who need to limit potassium intake, FoodNavigator reports. Those concerns track broader, longstanding worries about substitute ingredients that the agency weighed before finalizing its approach.
Industry reaction has been largely favorable. The International Dairy Foods Association welcomed the rule, saying it gives dairy manufacturers additional flexibility to reduce sodium while maintaining product quality, safety and consumer expectations, according to a statement posted by IDFA.
Why Voluntary Measures Have a Mixed Track Record
This is not the FDA's first attempt to nudge the food industry toward less sodium. The agency released voluntary sodium-reduction guidelines in 2021, then built on them in 2024 with new targets aimed at cutting the U.S. average sodium intake over three years from more than 3,400 milligrams a day down to 2,750 milligrams, according to Food Dive. Those voluntary goals are meant to cut Americans' daily sodium intake from commercially processed, packaged and prepared foods by 20%, FoodNavigator reports, and the FDA has said more than 70% of Americans' sodium intake comes from foods where sodium is added during manufacturing and commercial food prep.
The results so far have been underwhelming. Research cited by Food Dive found that sodium content across food categories declined by a median of only 3% after the 2021 guidelines took effect, while many restaurant foods actually increased their sodium content over the same period.
Estimates of how far off track Americans remain vary by source. The Hill reports Americans consume about 3,400 milligrams of sodium per day on average, nearly 50% above the recommended daily limit of 2,300 milligrams, while the Center for Science in the Public Interest puts the average closer to 3,100 milligrams, or roughly 35% above that same limit, according to a CSPI statement. Either way, CSPI called the new rule one of several steps necessary to reduce sodium in the U.S. food supply, and the advocacy group is pushing the FDA to go further — finalizing an evaluation of its Phase I voluntary sodium targets, issuing more aggressive Phase II targets, and establishing a mandatory front-of-package high-sodium labeling system.
The CDC frames the stakes in blunter terms: most Americans consume too much sodium, most of it from processed and restaurant foods, and eating too much can increase blood pressure and the risk of heart disease and stroke, according to the CDC. Whether this latest rule moves that needle more than its voluntary predecessors did will depend entirely on choices individual manufacturers haven't yet had to make.
