July 17, 2014 - Blogs
The TDS program, also known as the FDA’s “market-basket survey," samples a broad variety of commodities commonly consumed in the United States. It includes approximately 280 foods and beverages. The TDS is distinctive among monitoring programs in that it analyzes the presence of the chemical contaminants and nutrients in foods as they would be eaten (“table ready"), as opposed to in raw foods. This approach helps the agency to more accurately estimate exposure through food and beverages. In conducting its TDS research, the FDA collects food samples in cities throughout the country, buying foods from grocery stores and restaurants.
The newly posted updates report the levels of four toxic elements (arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury) and 12 nutritional elements (calcium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, phosphorus, selenium, sodium and zinc) in food. The updates include a report and individual analytical results.
The release of the updated report comes on the heels of a new report from The NPD Group that found fewer Americans are concerned about their sodium intake, and their consumption of foods with a low-sodium or no-salt label is declining and will continue to decline in the future. The decreasing concern is in spite of many U.S. consumers regularly eating above the government recommended daily sodium. (Read my blog “Fewer Americans Worry About Sodium Intake" for more information.)
What makes these two reports so timely is the fact that FDA in June announced its intent to issue voluntary guidelines for food producers to reduce sodium levels based on data from the 2010 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report.
The fact is sodium plays many functional roles in foods like texture improvement, color enhancement and microbial control, and the solution to sodium reduction isn’t as simple as cutting a percentage of salt from processed foods. In fact, many food manufacturers already have reduced sodium in their products and expanded the number of lower-sodium products. Sodium reduction is definitely a trending topic, and I am sure we will continue to see more low- or reduced-sodium product launches. But in the end, consumers will judge a product by its taste, and product developers can make the magic happen.
For more information about the industry’s sodium-reduction challenge, check out The State of Sodium Reduction infographic from Food Product Design’s FoodTech Toolbox to see more data on salt and sodium reduction.
There is finally some good news about sodium for the food and beverage industry. Data released by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as part of its ongoing Total Diet Study (TDS), which measures levels of certain chemical contaminants and nutrients in foods, found statistically significant declines in sodium contents of several processed foods from 2006 to 201
The TDS program, also known as the FDA’s “market-basket survey," samples a broad variety of commodities commonly consumed in the United States. It includes approximately 280 foods and beverages. The TDS is distinctive among monitoring programs in that it analyzes the presence of the chemical contaminants and nutrients in foods as they would be eaten (“table ready"), as opposed to in raw foods. This approach helps the agency to more accurately estimate exposure through food and beverages. In conducting its TDS research, the FDA collects food samples in cities throughout the country, buying foods from grocery stores and restaurants.
The newly posted updates report the levels of four toxic elements (arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury) and 12 nutritional elements (calcium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, phosphorus, selenium, sodium and zinc) in food. The updates include a report and individual analytical results.
The release of the updated report comes on the heels of a new report from The NPD Group that found fewer Americans are concerned about their sodium intake, and their consumption of foods with a low-sodium or no-salt label is declining and will continue to decline in the future. The decreasing concern is in spite of many U.S. consumers regularly eating above the government recommended daily sodium. (Read my blog “Fewer Americans Worry About Sodium Intake" for more information.)
What makes these two reports so timely is the fact that FDA in June announced its intent to issue voluntary guidelines for food producers to reduce sodium levels based on data from the 2010 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report.
The fact is sodium plays many functional roles in foods like texture improvement, color enhancement and microbial control, and the solution to sodium reduction isn’t as simple as cutting a percentage of salt from processed foods. In fact, many food manufacturers already have reduced sodium in their products and expanded the number of lower-sodium products. Sodium reduction is definitely a trending topic, and I am sure we will continue to see more low- or reduced-sodium product launches. But in the end, consumers will judge a product by its taste, and product developers can make the magic happen.
For more information about the industry’s sodium-reduction challenge, check out The State of Sodium Reduction infographic from Food Product Design’s FoodTech Toolbox to see more data on salt and sodium reduction.
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