Domino’s Pizza Enterprises today announced their commitment to reducing salt content in their proteins, bakery and dairy ingredients by 25% over the next three years as well as reducing the saturated fat content of their proteins and dairy ingredients by 15%.
This salt and saturated fat content reduction is inline with the UK Food Standard authorised level used by The Australian Division of World Action on Salt and Health (AWASH).
Since these targets were set by Company in June 2009, Domino’s has already reduced the salt in its three chicken products; chicken breast, kickers and wings by 19-20% and its beef product by 18%. These changes have already rolled out to stores.
Domino’s chicken breast has had a 50% decrease in saturated fat compared to the seasoned chicken which was phased out, while beef has had a 5% reduction.
Domino’s has said it is continuing to work with suppliers to increase quality of its products while decreasing the salt and saturated fat in key ingredients.
Domino’s CEO Don Meij said these significant targets were the Company’s short term goal, with a longer term goal to reduce the salt content even further.
“The reduction of salt and saturated fat in our ingredients is a complex but necessary task for the health and wellbeing of our customers. We know it is the right thing to do, however at the same time we need to make sure we don’t compromise on taste or quality,” Menij said.
“We don’t want to shock customer’s perception of flavour by altering the products too suddenly, that’s why we have implemented this three year plan.”
Don said even though Domino’s is committed to reducing the salt and saturated fat content in ingredients, customers still need to be aware of what they are ordering.
“Salt is a functional ingredient. For taste, cooking and preservative reasons it is vital we still maintain a certain level of salt in all our ingredients.
“Pizza is a share food and, like any food, should be eaten as part of a balanced diet and lifestyle. “If customers are worried about their salt intake, they can customise their pizza when ordering to make it healthier by choosing vegetables, chicken or beef toppings.
“Nutritional information about all our pizzas is available on our website and on the back of our pizza boxes to allow our consumers to make informed choices,” he added.