The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule allowing manufacturers to use salt substitutes in foods whose standards of identity list salt as a required or optional ingredient. The FDA announced the rule on 9 October 2026 and it was published in the Federal Register on 13 October. It takes effect on 14 December 2026.

According to the FDA, 139 standards of identity allowed or required added salt but did not permit salt substitutes. The rule amends 80 of those standards directly, and a further 59 cross-reference an amended standard. The categories covered include many cheeses, bread, rolls and buns, self-rising flour and cornmeal, macaroni and noodle products, canned fruits and vegetables, canned fish and seafood such as tuna and salmon, chocolate, margarine, syrups, mayonnaise and salad dressing.

What the rule allows

The rule creates a new subpart in part 130 of the FDA’s regulations, headed “Flexibility in Standardized Foods”, and defines a salt substitute as a safe and suitable ingredient that performs the functions of salt in the food. The FDA describes this as a horizontal approach, applying one definition across the standards.

The final rule does not list specific salt substitutes and does not require a minimum replacement level of salt. It does not permit any ingredient that is not already permitted in non-standardised foods, and it provides neither an authorisation nor an exemption from regulation as a food additive. The FDA said the approach ensures the foods maintain their basic nature and essential characteristics.

The FDA says the rule supports its sodium reduction efforts and the Make America Healthy Again initiative. The agency says in the rule that reducing sodium may help reduce the risk of hypertension, which it describes as a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. The FDA said it will issue a report later this year evaluating progress against its Phase I sodium targets.

Labelling and potassium

The rule prescribes no new labelling requirements for ingredients used to replace salt. Ingredients must still be declared by their common or usual names, and “salt substitute” is not a collective name for them. Potassium chloride must be declared as “potassium chloride” or “potassium salt”, and potassium content must appear on the Nutrition Facts label when it meets the declaration threshold. Monosodium glutamate must be declared by that name.

The FDA received more than 120 comments on its proposal, which was published in the Federal Register on 10 April 2023. Some commenters said potassium-based substitutes could affect people who must monitor potassium intake, such as those with chronic kidney disease. The FDA disagreed that foods containing potassium-based ingredients should carry a warning statement, saying potassium information already appears on the label, and said it expects potassium chloride use to be self-limiting because of its bitter and metallic taste.

The FDA says there are no regulatory costs because the rule imposes no requirements. It lists voluntary reformulation and relabelling, and possible consumer dissatisfaction with altered products, as qualitative costs.

Timing and industry response

Standards for milk products and cheeses sit under a provision of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that allows formal objections and requests for a hearing. Objections on those standards are due by 12 November 2026, according to the rule. FoodNavigator reported that most amendments take effect on 14 December without a further objection period.

Food Business News reported that Michael Dykes, president and chief executive of the International Dairy Foods Association, welcomed the rule, saying it gives dairy manufacturers more flexibility to reduce sodium while maintaining product quality, safety and consumer expectations.

F&B Today’s reading

  • Analysis: For manufacturers selling standardised products into the US, including cheese, canned seafood and bakery exporters from India and the UK, the rule removes a legal obstacle to reduced sodium versions that keep their standard names. It does not remove the taste, cost and shelf life work.
  • Analysis: With no approved list, the onus is on the manufacturer to show a substitute is already permitted and performs a function of salt in that food. Suppliers of potassium chloride and other salt replacers should expect buyers to ask for that evidence.
  • Analysis: Declaring potassium chloride and, where required, potassium content means label changes. Brands planning reformulation should budget for relabelling alongside the recipe work.
  • Analysis: The rule covers only US standards of identity. The same product sold in the UK, India or the EU must still meet those markets’ own compositional and labelling rules.