Pork processing firm Smithfield Foods Inc. is launching a company-wide health and wellness initiative to cut the amount of sodium and sugar in its products by 10% by 2025 and increase the use of clean labeling across its portfolio, the Smithfield, VA-based company announced in a recent release.

“At Smithfield, we are constantly innovating to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers who are increasingly seeking out foods with improved nutrition profiles and clean, transparent labeling,” Stewart Leath, chief sustainability officer for Smithfield, said in a statement. “We understand the importance of continually evolving our operational practices and sustainability program to support these ends. Our addition of Health and Wellness as a sustainability pillar underscores our ongoing commitment to lead the industry in providing transparency and nourishing, high-quality protein products.”

Changing consumer expectations on the use of salt and sugar as ingredients in food products was a driver of the company’s decision. Smithfield said it will innovate and alter its existing formulas to lower the sodium and sugar contents while preserving product quality, taste and safety. The changes will be made across its entire product portfolio.

As part of the effort, the company is also working to shorten ingredient statements and reduce complexity in product labels by 2025.

Many major food and beverage companies have introduced similar salt and sugar reduction plans over the last decade. General Mills has been working for a number of years to lower the sodium contents of some of its products. In late 2016, Nestle said it discovered a new way to change the structure of sugar molecules that could help reduce total sugar in products by 40%. Cargill revealed plans in 2019 to add new production capabilities for chocolate with reduced sugar at its Mouscron, Belgium manufacturing plant.