The 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines Committee report, mandatory menu labeling for restaurants, and a new American Stroke Association at the American Heart Association are among the new forces fueling the lower sodium movement. And, with pediatricians now checking blood pressure as early as age 3, one in three U.S. adults suffering from hypertension and 79 million pre-hypertension, the negative climate will grow stronger still.
 
Sales of foods/beverages carrying a lower/reduced/no sodium claim reached nearly $15 billion in mass channels, excluding Wal-Mart for the year ended 12/27/09, according to the Nielsen Co. The number of products touting a sodium claim grew 10%. One-third (34%) of food shoppers bought more lower-in-sodium items in 2010 compared to the previous year [Food Marketing Institute (FMI), “2010 Shopping for Health”].
 
Sodium now ranks 2nd only to calories as the ingredient most looked for by the 65% of consumers who read nutritional labels, reports IFIC’s “2010 Food & Health Survey.” Low sodium ranked 3rd behind whole grain and high fiber as the most sought after health claim on food packages—overtaking low fat—according to FMI’s “2010 U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends.” More than half (53%) of consumers are extremely (18%) or somewhat (35%) concerned about sodium per IFIC.
 
Most important, concern over sodium is bringing with it a new series of potential market opportunities. Are Americans getting enough potassium? Should magnesium play a greater role in heart health? What about the increased incidence of hypertension in children and the growing incidence of stroke in younger adults, as stoke cases decline in those age 65+?
 
Market Potential
 
According to Sloan Trends’ TrendSense model, sodium is an enormous Level 3 mass market opportunity, which has accelerated steadily during the past decade. A major jump in research/medical activity and funding around 2006-07 shot consumer activity and the marketability of low sodium products into the limelight.
 
Despite an apparent leveling off of the Medical trend line, because the activity level is so large—around 90,000 new studies worldwide per year—even a small change in Medical Counts represents an enormous amount of new data and fresh opportunities for news/messages in the marketplace. In a gigantic category, e.g., sodium, a flattening in Medical Counts is unlikely to slow the movement down.