Campbell's to cut tomato-soup sodium

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. - The first Campbell soup is getting a lower-sodium makeover.

The Campbell Soup Co. announced Wednesday that its condensed tomato soup -- the one painted by Andy Warhol -- will have its sodium cut by 32 percent.

The new level will have 480 milligrams of sodium per serving -- low enough to qualify for the government's definition of healthy. The new version of the soup is scheduled to show up on supermarket shelves in August.

The Camden, N.J.-based company is using low-sodium sea salt to modify a product that hasn't changed much since it was introduced in 1897.

Over the past three years, Campbell has used the sea salt in dozens of its offerings.

Denise Morrison, president of the Company's North American soup, sauces and beverage operations, said that by fall, half the company's soups will have reduced sodium.

But for the company, the tomato soup's sodium reduction is an especially big deal.

"The milestone of this is that it is the mainstream," Morrison said. "It's one of our icons." The company says that the tomato soup is one of the top 10 selling grocery items nationwide and that 25 million Americans eat it weekly.

And unlike some of the earlier reduced-sodium offerings, the old version of the tomato soup will no longer be made once the new one begins.

Morrison said the company did more testing than usual to the new tomato soup because it's a change to a well-loved product. She said consumers who have tested it say it tastes the same as the classic version.

Other Campbell soups, such as chicken noodle and cream of mushroom, will undergo the transformation once the company can change them without changing the taste, Morrison said.

Before the sodium-reduction drive, the major criticism of Campbell's from a health standpoint was that the products had too much sodium.

ASSOCIATED PRESS