Kellogg's Europe has called for industry wide engagement on salt reduction while claiming customer taste preferences hinder manufacturers' aims to minimise salt levels in breakfast cereals.

This follows Kellogg's recent announcement to cut the amount of salt in its Rice Krispies and Corn Flakes by 30 per cent.

Marta Baffigo, director of public affairs for Kellogg’s Europe, said the company has taken a gradual approach to reformulation regarding salt content so that people do not notice any difference in taste in its established breakfast cereals.

Kellogg produces two cereals with no added salt, and when asked whether the manufacturer could apply the same formulation across its entire range, Baffigo said it was easier to launch a product that customers had no established preference for than it was to reformulate a known brand.

Baffigo said Kellogg also has plans to reduce the salt content of its cereals even further once it finds an effective replacement ingredient.

However, she argued that the inherent risk in such a move is that its most loyal customers might switch to a rival brand with higher salt content to ensure their taste expectations were met. To combat this potential scenario Baffigo called on all European breakfast cereal manufacturers to fully engage in the salt reduction process.

She said that a reformulation involving a 30 per cent salt reduction requires a huge level of investment in terms of time and costs by its R&D team. Baffigo added that it took many months of planning and was part of its ongoing salt reduction programme, now in its 11th year. She said this programme had resulted in reductions of at least 50 per cent in salt content across its brands in Europe since 1998.