UPDATE: Campbell Soup’s new CEO plans to increase the salt content in its core soup products.

Researchers at the University of Exeter released findings this week questioning claims that lower sodium diets can reduce the risk of death from heart disease.

While still early, these findings challenge the opinions of public health advocates who have lobbied municipalities, most notably New York, to reduce salt content across a range of food products, citing that eighty percent of salt in American’s diets comes from packaged or restaurant consumables.

While industry reaction to sodium reduction proposals have been mixed at best, companies ranging from Pepsi to Taco Bell announced initiatives to identify new seasonings to reduce salt content in their products.

Taco Bell’s approach to sodium reduction has been the most innovative – without fan-fare or announcement, the chain cut back on its use of salt by 23% in the Dallas/Ft. Worth market and quietly observed to see if consumers changed their ordering patterns or number of visits. No one noticed – according to the chain’s CEO, Greg Creed, sales remained unaffected as Taco Bell replaced thousands of pounds of salt with other, supposedly more nutritious, seasonings. Taco Bell is moving forward with aggressive plans to decrease the sodium content in its menu items by more than 33% and roll out its healthier recipes across its network.

This test and learn process to pro-health initiatives provides an excellent means to evaluate new approaches at low cost and low risk and only roll-out initiatives that achieve target goals to markets and locations where they will be most effective.

Restaurant chains should take a lesson from other industries with significant experience in leveraging the scientific method, the medical and pharmaceutical field being one example, in learning that the majority of new ideas often fail. Testing allows for failure, and learning, at low cost and can feed iteration till success measures are met.

The current debate on salt parallels those related to menu labeling and calorie counts that we’ve discussed before. Only robust testing can help guide both the industry and regulators in identifying which tactics, of the many proclaimed to date, can actually impact consumers’ eating habits and help America address its growing obesity epidemic.