CDC’s Sodium Reduction in Communities Program: Evaluating Differential Effects in Food Service Settings, 2013–2016

High sodium intake can lead to hypertension and increase the risk for heart disease and stroke; however, research is lacking on the effectiveness of community-based sodium reduction programs. From 2013 through 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded 10 state and local health departments to implement sodium reduction strategies across diverse institutional food settings. Strategies of the Sodium Reduction in Communities Program (SRCP) are implementing food service guidelines, making menu modifications, enabling purchase of reduced-sodium foods, and providing consumer information. CDC aggregated awardee-reported performance measures to evaluate progress in increasing the access, availability, and purchase of reduced sodium foods. Evaluation results of the SRCP show the potential differential effects of sodium reduction strategies in a community setting and support the need for additional community-level efforts in this emerging area of public health.