History of the Sodium Reduction in Communities Program

CDC launched the Sodium Reduction in Communities Program (SRCP) in 2010 with a 3-year demonstration program. Currently, CDC funds eight grantees working with local schools, hospitals, worksites, and meal programs to lower the amount of sodium in foods purchased and prepared by these organizations.

Learn more about the history of SRCP and its role in helping Americans reduce their sodium intake.

Exploring Change at the Community Level: 2010–2013

In September 2010, CDC funded five recipients to conduct community-level sodium reduction work. This demonstration program sought to reduce sodium consumption and find out whether consumers would accept the reduction.

Learn more

• Read the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice supplement, “Public Health Interventions to Reduce Sodium Intake,” which features articles from the 2010 SRCP sites.
• View success stories from the 2010 funded sites:
  • Choose Health LA: Reducing Sodium in Los Angeles County [PDF-145K]
  • Shasta County Lowers Sodium in Kids Meals at Local Restaurants [PDF-153K]
  • Reducing Sodium—A Johnson County Heart Health Initiative [PDF-347K]
  • Eating As Well As the Animals? [PDF-154K]
  • Reducing Sodium in School Meals is Elementary—Broome County Health Department and Broome Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services [PDF-389K]
  • NYC Healthy Hospital Food Initiative [PDF-495K]

Moving Forward: 2013–2016

Based on lessons learned during the demonstration, CDC awarded funding in 2013 to 10 communities to start and test promising sodium reduction strategies. These communities worked to reduce sodium intake by adding lower sodium options in worksites, hospitals, distributive meal programs, early care and education settings, and independent restaurants.

Each of the 2013 awardees of this program documented their successes in the following areas:

• Developing nutrition standards, such as worksite-specific or county-wide food service guidelines that include sodium limits for meals served.
• Working directly with food service professionals on reducing the sodium content of foods purchased or prepared in the kitchen.
• Working with entities that serve or sell food to facilitate standardized purchasing of lower sodium options.
• Developing salt-free cooking practices.

These strategies increase consumers’ options of healthier choices, because salt can be added but not removed by the consumer.

Learn more

• View the Early Outcomes for Sodium Reduction in Communities Program [PDF-437K] infographic, which will be updated with all grantees’ results in 2017 when final reporting for the project is complete.
• Read Practice Stories from the Field, success stories from the 2013 funded sites:
  • California
    • Shasta County: Shasta County Lowers Sodium in Kids Meals at Local Restaurants [PDF-153K]
    • Los Angeles County: Choose Health LA: Reducing Sodium in Los Angeles County [PDF-145K]
    • Los Angeles County: Using Contracts to Reduce Sodium in Government Food Environments [PDF-200K]
    • San Diego: Building Relationships Through Sodium Reduction [PDF-200K]
    • San Diego: County Psychiatric Hospital Lowers Sodium in Meals [PDF-170K]
• Idaho: Idaho Falls: Idaho School Steps Up to Drive Sodium Down [PDF-314K]
• Indiana
  • Johnson County: Reducing Sodium—A Johnson County Heart Health Initiative [PDF-347K]
  • Marion County: Giving Kids a Head Start on Health: Sodium Reduction in Marion County [PDF-312K]
  • Marion County: Sodium Reduction in Vending Machines [PDF-136K]
• Kansas (Shawnee County): Eating As Well As the Animals? [PDF-154K]
• Maine
  • Cumberland and Penobscot Counties: Sodium Reduction Efforts at Maine Food Pantries [PDF-380K]
• Massachusetts: Massachusetts Highlights the Main Sources of Sodium to Promote Heart Health [PDF-467K]
• New York
  • New York City: NYC Healthy Hospital Food Initiative [PDF-495K]
  • New York City: Partnering With Food Distributors to Reduce Sodium [PDF-323K]
  • Schenectady County: Lowering Sodium in Menu Items for Seniors—Schenectady County [PDF-289K]
  • Broome County: Reducing Sodium in School Meals is Elementary—Broome County Health Department and Broome Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services [PDF-389K]
  • Steuben County: Reducing Sodium in Steuben County: Purchase, Preparation, and Portions [PDF-250K]

• Oregon: Lane County: Working Together to Provide Good Options at RiverBend [PDF-655K]
• Pennsylvania: Philadelphia: Reducing Sodium: Citywide Partnerships and Nutrition Standards [PDF-249K]
• Texas
  • San Antonio: Partnering with Worksite Cafeterias to Provide Lower Sodium Options [PDF-616K]
  • San Antonio: Teaming Up to Reduce Sodium in Meals for Seniors [PDF-573K]
• Washington
  • Spokane: Sodium Reduction in University Cafeterias:Soups, Sauces, and Spices [PDF-356K]
  • Clark: Feeding Consumer Demand for Healthier, Lower Sodium Meals [PDF-192K]

Building on Lessons Learned: 2016–2019

CDC funded eight communities in 2016 to continue to improve nutrition and increase access to lower sodium options.

Although findings from the 2010–2013 and 2013–2016 awardees of the program show that sodium reduction is possible and acceptable to consumers, more work is needed to determine if these interventions result in sustainable, population-wide reductions in sodium consumption; how these strategies influence the supply and help to identify lower sodium products; and if effective strategies can be scaled to increase impact.

CDC will measure specific outcomes to determine whether these strategies meet programmatic goals in the priority venues. CDC will base the assessment on both local and cross-site evaluations.

Learn more

• Read about the current approach.
• See the map of the 2016 funded sites.