Salt has long been a cornerstone of the modern food system. It enhances flavour, preserves foods, Salt has long been one of the food industry’s most important ingredients. It enhances flavour, improves texture, supports preservation, and helps shape the sensory experience consumers expect from many everyday foods.
Yet despite its technological and culinary importance, excessive sodium intake remains one of the world’s leading dietary risk factors.
Now, the World Health Organization (WHO) is intensifying its global sodium reduction efforts with the launch of the revamped second edition of its “SHAKE the Salt Habit” technical package — an updated framework designed to help governments implement stronger, more coordinated salt reduction policies across the food system.
The renewed initiative signals that sodium reduction is once again becoming a major global public health priority — and one that is likely to have growing implications for food manufacturers, reformulation strategies, nutrition policy, and consumer communication.
Why WHO Is Renewing the Push on Salt
According to WHO, global sodium intake levels remain dangerously high. Average consumption is estimated at approximately 11 g of salt per day — more than double the WHO recommendation of less than 5 g daily. Excess sodium intake continues to contribute significantly to hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and kidney disease worldwide.
Despite years of public health campaigns, WHO warns that most countries remain off track to achieve the global target of reducing sodium intake by 30%.
A major reason is that sodium consumption is increasingly driven by the food environment itself — particularly processed, packaged, restaurant, takeaway, and convenience foods — rather than discretionary salt use alone.
As a result, WHO’s latest messaging places greater emphasis on systemic food policy interventions rather than relying solely on individual behaviour change.
What Is the New WHO “SHAKE” Package?
Originally launched in 2016, the WHO SHAKE package was developed as a practical roadmap for governments seeking to reduce population salt intake. The newly updated second edition modernises the framework by incorporating the latest scientific evidence, policy tools, implementation guidance, and country experiences.
SHAKE stands for:
S — Surveillance
Monitoring sodium intake, sodium sources in the food supply, and population health outcomes.
H — Harness Industry
Working with manufacturers, retailers, and foodservice operators to reformulate products and reduce sodium levels across food categories.
A — Adopt Standards for Labelling and Marketing
Strengthening front-of-pack labelling, nutrition standards, and marketing policies to help consumers make informed choices.
K — Knowledge
Improving public awareness and nutrition education around sodium intake and health risks.
E — Environment
Creating healthier food environments through procurement policies, school standards, institutional nutrition policies, and broader food system measures. Importantly, the updated package also includes stronger guidance on governance, implementation, accountability, and managing conflicts of interest in nutrition policymaking.
WHO’s messaging is increasingly clear that sodium reduction requires coordinated, population-level strategies rather than fragmented voluntary approaches alone.
Sodium Reduction Is Becoming a Food Systems Issue
One of the biggest shifts in the global sodium conversation is the growing recognition that salt reduction is no longer simply about personal responsibility.
Instead, WHO increasingly frames sodium reduction as a structural food systems challenge linked to:
- Processed and ultra-processed food environments
- Urbanisation and convenience eating
- Out-of-home consumption
- Food accessibility and affordability
- Nutrition inequalities
- Public procurement standards
- Front-of-pack labelling systems
This broader systems perspective means sodium reduction policies are becoming more interconnected with wider nutrition policy discussions around reformulation, healthier food environments, front-of-pack labelling, and prevention-focused public health strategies.
Why Sodium Reduction Remains Technically Complex
Although reducing salt intake may sound straightforward in theory, sodium plays multiple functional roles in foods beyond taste alone.
Salt contributes to:
- Preservation and microbial safety
- Texture and mouthfeel
- Shelf-life stability
- Fermentation control
- Product structure and processing functionality
- Consumer sensory expectations
This creates significant reformulation challenges across categories such as bakery, sauces, soups, snacks, processed meats, ready meals, cheese, and convenience foods.
Consumer acceptance also remains a major consideration. Taste continues to be one of the strongest drivers of food choice, meaning abrupt reductions in salt can negatively impact product appeal and repeat purchase behaviour.
As a result, many experts advocate gradual sodium reduction approaches that allow consumer palates to adapt progressively over time.
The Food Industry Response: From Reduction to “Smarter Reformulation”
For the food industry, the renewed WHO focus presents both pressure and opportunity.
Companies are increasingly exploring more sophisticated sodium reduction strategies, including:
- Potassium-enriched salt substitutes
- Fermentation and umami technologies
- Flavour modulation systems
- Herbs, spices, and botanical blends
- Texture optimisation
- Gradual reformulation programmes
- AI-supported sensory optimisation
WHO’s updated SHAKE package also references growing interest in lower-sodium salt substitutes as part of broader sodium reduction strategies.
At the same time, manufacturers must balance multiple competing demands:
- Maintaining taste and sensory satisfaction
- Improving nutritional profiles
- Preserving affordability
- Meeting clean-label expectations
- Navigating regulatory scrutiny
- Supporting consumer trust
This is accelerating a broader shift toward “smarter reformulation” — focusing not only on reducing nutrients of concern, but on designing foods that better align with evolving health, policy, and consumer expectations.
Will Consumers Embrace Lower-Sodium Foods?
One of the biggest questions remains whether consumers are genuinely prepared to accept lower-sodium products at scale. While many consumers express interest in healthier eating, taste remains the dominant purchasing driver in most food categories.
This creates an important tension between public health ambition and real-world eating behaviour.
The most successful sodium reduction strategies may therefore rely less on restriction-focused messaging and more on:
- Positive nutrition positioning
- Better culinary experiences
- Gradual adaptation
- Familiarity and comfort
- Improved flavour design
- Transparent communication
Rather than simply encouraging consumers to “eat less salt,” the future may increasingly focus on creating foods that deliver both nutritional improvements and enjoyable eating experiences.
Nutricomms Perspective: A New Era of Sodium Policy and Food Innovation
WHO’s revamped SHAKE package reflects a broader global shift toward prevention-focused nutrition policies and healthier food environments.
But it also highlights an important reality: sodium reduction is not simply a technical issue — it is a behavioural, sensory, economic, and communication challenge.
Reducing population sodium intake will require far more than simplistic “less salt” messaging. It will demand collaboration across public health, food science, reformulation, regulation, culinary innovation, and consumer engagement.
As governments intensify sodium reduction efforts globally, the conversation is likely to move beyond whether salt reduction is necessary — and toward how healthier, enjoyable, and commercially viable food systems can realistically be achieved.
For the food industry, the next phase of sodium reduction may not simply be about removing salt from products, but about redesigning the future of flavour, health, and consumer trust itself.
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