Issues That Matter

We know that the small choices we make every day—from how our ingredients are farmed to the packaging we use—add up to make a big difference over time. Learn more about where we stand on important issues like ingredients, non-BPA packaging, and GMOs.

Ingredients

In 2017, we committed to sourcing 100% “No Antibiotics Ever (NAE)” chicken for our diced and canned chicken products in the U.S. and Canada. We have since achieved this goal. This means we don’t allow antibiotics to be added to the feed, water, or any commercial vaccines used by our chicken suppliers. We use tens of millions of pounds of chicken a year, and we’re working with our suppliers to develop a stable, sustainable supply chain that can continue delivering on this commitment.

We’re committed to the humane treatment of animals and animal welfare is a key part of our vision for a sustainable supply chain. We require our suppliers to implement procedures to prevent the mistreatment of animals, including how they are raised, cared for, transported, and processed. We’ve started using cage-free eggs in our products and are working with our suppliers to achieve the goal of sourcing 100% cage-free eggs by 2025.

We have hundreds of different products across our portfolio that are gluten-free. These include Campbell’s Condensed Gluten Free Soups, Campbell’s Tomato Juice and most of our Pace salsas, Prego Italian sauces, Swanson broths and stocks, and V8 juices. Pacific Foods and Late July also offer a variety of gluten free products, while Snyder’s of Hanover and Pretzel Crisps offer a variety of gluten-free pretzels. You can find gluten-free products on our brand sites, including Campbell’s, Swanson, Pace, Prego, and Snyder’s of Hanover.

We have a strict two-step process for validating a product as gluten-free and ensuring that it meets FDA’s criteria for the claim. First, we verify all the ingredients are gluten-free, then we analyze the finished product to make sure it meets all relevant requirements. Additionally, we test finished products periodically to ensure continued compliance

Some of our recipes require food starches, and others do not. However, many of our products are made without gluten-containing ingredients but are manufactured on shared equipment that have not been tested for the presence of gluten. These products may be suitable for people looking to reduce gluten but not for those who may have celiac disease. These products can be identified by the lack of gluten-containing ingredients on the label, even though the labels does not make a gluten-free claim.

High Fructose Corn Syrup or HFCS is a liquid sweetener. High fructose corn syrup contains the same number of calories as table sugar and has been widely used in the food industry for more than fifty years.

Although we have significantly reduced our use of the ingredient in recent years, we do use high fructose corn syrup when it is right for the recipe, mostly to help deliver a smoother texture than other sugars can provide, or to keep the cost of a product affordable.

Many people have told us they would prefer to avoid high fructose corn syrup, which is why we will continue to move away from using it in new products we launch and explore opportunities to remove it from certain existing products. More than 80% of the products we offer for retail sale in the United States do not contain high fructose corn syrup including Campbell’s Sauces, Campbell’s Homestyle soup, Swanson broth, Prego Italian sauces and Slow Kettle Style soups.

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of a common amino acid. MSG occurs naturally in many foods, such as tomatoes and cheeses. It has been used safely as a seasoning in cooking for more than 100 years. It adds a savory or umami flavor and when used in conjunction with salt it creates a clean savory taste.

MSG is lower in sodium compared with table salt (sodium chloride). It contains only 13% sodium compared to 39% sodium in table salt. This means a small amount of MSG can be used instead of salt to create an appealing savory flavor. This is particularly useful when making great tasting foods which have reduced sodium and fat.

For people looking to avoid MSG, we make nearly 600 different product varieties that don’t contain added MSG. These include soups, broths, salsas, cooking sauces, canned pastas and others in our Meals & Beverages portfolio and crackers, chips, pretzels, popcorn, nuts, and other savory snacks in our Snacks portfolio.

To reduce the risk of deforestation in our palm oil supply chain, we purchase 100% Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified palm oil across our portfolio of brands. Both Campbell and our palm oil suppliers are RSPO members, a group composed of palm growers, palm oil users, retail food chains and NGOs. The RSPO was created to promote the development and use of sustainable palm oil through supply chain cooperation and an open dialogue with stakeholders. The certification for palm oil will be provided through the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Learn about our palm oil sourcing guidelines

All the ingredients we use in our products are declared safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In a small number of our products, we do use colorings to make the food more visually appealing, which we label using their common names. We understand that some people try to avoid artificial flavors and colors, and we continue to look at alternative solutions to remove these ingredients from our portfolio.

One way we reduced sodium across our portfolio is by using alternative ingredients such as potassium salt. Potassium salt can replace a portion of the sodium, provide a savory flavor to foods and help consumers incorporate more of this essential mineral into their diet. Eating foods with potassium can help maintain a healthy blood pressure, which contributes to heart health. Potassium can help blunt the effects of sodium on blood pressure. Current Dietary Guidelines recommend that adults eat at least 4,700 mg of potassium and no more than 2,300 mg of sodium daily. If you want to reduce the amount of sodium in your diet, we offer more than 500 products across our Snacks and Meals & Beverages divisions that meet FDA’s strict criteria for being called “healthy,” which includes a limit on sodium per serving. In our Meals & Beverages division, we offer lower sodium varieties of Campbell’s soup, Swanson stock and broth, and V8 beverages to help consumers meet their unique dietary needs. Our Snacks division also offers consumers lower sodium options with products like Cape Cod Lightly Salted chips, Kettle Brand Unsalted Chips, Snyder’s of Hanover Unsalted Mini Pretzels, Emerald Natural Almonds and Walnuts, and more. To learn more about how we view sodium in our products, review our Position on Sodium.

Non-BPA packaging

We use non-BPA lining in all of our aluminum and steel cans throughout our operations in North America. PET bottles, pouches and cartons such as those used for V8 beverages, Swanson broths and Campbell’s sauces are (and have always been) non-BPA packaging. Although the FDA has determined that BPA is safe to use in food packaging, we understand that some people would prefer to avoid it and we continue to work on packaging alternatives. The containers of a few other products have metal components that have limited food contact points but are key to ensuring that the lids remain tight. BPA is used as a coating on that metal but in small amounts.

Our approach to packaging

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)

GMO is short for “genetically modified organisms.” It is sometimes called genetic engineering or bioengineering and refers to a process where desirable traits or characteristics are introduced into an organism. In America, many farmers who grow canola, corn, soybean, and sugar beet choose to use genetically modified seeds—and have done so for nearly 20 years—because it reduces costs and improves yields. More than 90% of these 4 crops in America are currently grown using genetically modified seeds. These crops are used to make a wide range of different ingredients that are used in foods we eat every day, from vegetable oils to sugar.

We’re comfortable using these genetically modified crops because scientists and the FDA—who have been studying genetic engineering for many years—agree that food ingredients made with these methods are safe and aren’t different from other ingredients. Learn more about genetically modified crops. We know many of you want to know which ingredients we use are derived from these crops. Here’s a comprehensive list of ingredients that we use that may be derived from crops grown from genetically engineered seeds. These ingredients aren’t used in all products.

Corn
Corn (except sweet corn kernels)
Corn chips
Corn oil
Corn flour
Corn gluten
Corn starch
Corn syrup
Dextrose
High fructose corn syrup
Maltodextrin
Modified corn starch
Modified waxy maize

Sugar beets
Citric acid
Sugar/Sucrose
Sugar syrup
Invert sugar
Molasses
Brown sugar

Soybeans
Hydrolyzed soy protein
Soybean flour
Soy lecithin
Soybean oil
Soy protein concentrate
Soy protein isolate
Soybean hulls (fiber)
Vegetable oil

Canola / Cottonseed
Canola oil
Cottonseed oil
Flax seed
Margarine
Partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil
Vegetable oil

We’re committed to printing clear and simple language on the labels of our U.S. products which use ingredients derived from genetically modified crops. We talked to thousands of consumers and learned about what they want to know about GMOs in their food, including for specific GMO ingredients to be identified on labels using simple and familiar language. Our current label statement reads: The ingredients from corn / soy / canola / sugar in this product come from genetically modified crops. This meets consumers’ needs–it’s clear, simple, and familiar and it points out what are the specific GMO ingredients.

We make a large selection of products that don’t contain ingredients derived from GMO crops, including products verified by the Non-GMO Project and certified organic products which cannot be produced with GMO ingredients. Brands that have products that have been verified by the Non-GMO Project include Snyder’s of Hanover, Late July Snacks, Emerald, Kettle Brand chips, Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps and Cape Cod chips. Brands that have certified organic products include Swanson, Pace, Late July Snacks, Pacific Foods, and Goldfish.

Keep exploring