New WHO Global Sodium Benchmarks for Different Food Categories

Every year, millions of deaths are associated with consuming an unhealthy diet, including excessive sodium intake. However, these deaths are largely preventable.

On May 5, the World Health Organization (WHO) will launch the “WHO Global Sodium Benchmarks for Different Food Categories”. The benchmarks are a guide for countries and industry to reduce the sodium content in specific categories of processed foods, which are a primary or rapidly increasing source of sodium in many countries. Countries can adapt these targets to their local food environments, requiring industry to progressively lower the sodium content in processed foods.  (The same or similar processed food products often contain different amounts of sodium in different countries—indicating that the food industry can reformulate products to contain less sodium while still appealing to its customers.)

On Wednesday, May 5, 12:30-1:30 CET, WHO will host a virtual event to announce these new benchmarks featuring Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, and Dr. Tom Frieden, President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives, an Initiative of Vital Strategies. Country representatives will also share success stories of sodium targets in their local context.

Join the launch event here on May 5.