Nutrition
Last updated
August 13, 2026
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To PepsiCo:
PepsiCo aims to offer foods and beverages that people and families enjoy and that fit diverse lifestyles. As tastes and consumer preferences evolve and nutrition science and associated guidance advances, we continue to adapt our portfolio and product offerings to remain a leading convenient foods and drinks company.
To the World:
Consuming an excess of added sugars, sodium or saturated fat are leading risk factors across the globe for diet-related health conditions. At the same time, many people around the world are not eating enough nutritious food groups and hence essential nutrients. Although many of our products are not intended to be core elements of the daily diet, we aim to set ambitious nutrition goals that will enable us to offer an array of positive choices, now and for many years to come.
Approach
We strive to set ambitious nutrition goals that are aligned with guidance from health authorities and regulatory bodies. In our efforts, we aim to reflect consumer taste preferences and local expectations while meeting regulatory requirements.
Governance
PepsiCo Research and Development (R&D) plays a central role in advancing the company’s nutrition strategy through science-led innovation. R&D develops technical solutions for product development with dedicated platforms focused on health and nutrition. These efforts equip teams to create products with nutrition profiles that meet consumer preferences.
PepsiCo’s Life Sciences Team monitors and evaluates emerging science related to nutrition, diet and health to support evidence-based reformulation and innovation. The team engages international experts to align internal criteria and scientific application with the full body of research evidence. PepsiCo also tracks updates to national and international dietary guidelines to anticipate changes that are relevant to the business.
PepsiCo’s Scientific and Regulatory Affairs teams ensure the safety of food ingredients and maintain full compliance with applicable local food laws and regulations.
PepsiCo continues global innovation and reformulation efforts to expand positive choices for consumers. Markets and regions apply tailored strategies that reflect local tastes, cultural preferences and challenges while maintaining improved nutritional profiles.
PepsiCo’s Board integrates nutrition into business strategy oversight. Throughout the year, the Board and relevant committees review progress toward nutrition ambitions, and the Sustainability and Public Policy Committee reviews each product-related goal within the pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) agenda.
Nutrition guidance
Our Life Sciences team, comprising experts in physiology and nutrition science, provides evidence-based nutrition guidance to the teams creating our foods and drinks, whether they are reformulating existing products or developing new ones. The guidance is based on food and nutrient recommendations from leading global and national nutrition authorities, including the World Health Organization (WHO), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Academy of Medicine and dietary guidelines from numerous countries.
The guidance is focused on a reduction in nutrients to limit and an increase in food groups and nutrients to encourage, reflecting global dietary gaps.
Specifically, the guidance incorporates:
- Nutrients to limit: Nutrients that have been well-established as dietary factors that are discouraged from being consumed in excess. They include:
- Saturated fat: The current WHO dietary guidelines recommend that a maximum of 10% of total dietary energy intake be derived from saturated fat.
- Sodium: Adults, according to the WHO, should consume less than 2000mg/day sodium (equivalent to < 5g/day salt, or approximately one teaspoon).
- Added sugars: The WHO recommends people consume less than 25g of free sugars per day.
- Trans fats: WHO’s recommendation for adults is to limit consumption of trans fat to less than 1% of total energy intake, which is less than 2.2g per day for a 2000-Calorie diet.
- Nutrients to encourage: Nutrients that have been identified as being commonly under-consumed in the population. They are often called “shortfall nutrients” and include iron, fiber and specific vitamins and/or minerals, such as calcium.
- Food groups to encourage: Food groups that have been well-established as contributing to healthier diets. They include:
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Whole grains
- Low-fat dairy
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Beans, peas & lentils
Strategy
The United Nations and World Health Organization recognize that the active participation of the private sector can contribute to the achievement of sustainable development, including through the important tool of public-private partnerships. We support that approach.
We are taking aggressive steps to implement many of the actions recommended by the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health and the WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control on Non-Communicable Diseases. Our multi-faceted approach includes:
- Innovating and reformulating our products to reduce added sugars, sodium and saturated fat;
- Increasing the diversity of product options in our portfolio;
- Providing clear labeling information about product ingredients;
- Adhering to responsible marketing policies; and
- Meeting the highest standards for food quality and safety.
In addition to promoting the nutritious products already in our portfolio, we aim to continuously innovate and expand our portfolio to make products that provide nutritional benefits. Over the years, we have enhanced our portfolio through:
- Reformulations, which improve the nutritional profile of many of our products by reducing added sugars, sodium and saturated fat and where possible and appropriate, increasing content of nutrients to encourage, reflecting global dietary gaps;
- Acquisitions, which have added a number of the world’s most trusted and loved positive nutrition brands to our business; and
- Product innovations that help to further bolster our portfolio, meeting local consumer tastes and preferences while providing consumers with the nutrition they may be looking for.
Product innovation
We'll aim to meet our nutrition ambitions through a combination of current offerings, reformulating our existing products and innovating to create new ones. The important tasks of reformulating and innovating fall largely to our R&D associates across R&D centers around the world. The team is focused on:
- Innovating on the farm: Agricultural experts partner with farmers to grow potatoes that have the ideal flavor or oats with more fiber and protein.
- Maintaining taste: Flavor and seasoning experts identify savory and sweet ingredients and study salt crystal shapes and sizes to optimize flavor while using less sugar or sodium.
- Creating texture: Recipe experts use popping and baking methods that add a range of textures and use less oil.
Policy advocacy
To support our nutrition efforts, we engage in conversations with governments and other stakeholders around the world on public health topics including preventing and addressing all forms of malnutrition, such as improving nutrition, addressing under-nutrition, supporting responsible marketing, promoting well-rounded lifestyles and developing nutrition programs.
In all of our external engagements around the world, we abide by the relevant laws and regulations governing interaction with government officials as well as our Code of Conduct, which covers political activities and requires disclosure of conflicts of interest.
PepsiCo participates in public policy dialogue with government officials and other stakeholders where we or others can share our expertise and contribute ideas to solve policy issues. We support science-based policies. Oftentimes we engage as a stakeholder in sharing practical knowledge and expertise as policy is developed in support of the public’s best interest.
Progress
Metrics and targets
As we work toward our pep+ (PepsiCo Positive) ambitions to offer Positive Choices to consumers, we are aiming to:
| 2025 Goals | 2025 | 20241 | 20231 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reduce added sugars: ≥67% of beverage portfolio volume will have ≤100 Calories from added sugars per 12 oz. serving | 68%2 | 67% | 62% |
| Reduce sodium: ≥75% of convenient foods portfolio volume will not exceed 1.3 milligrams of sodium per Calorie | 79%2 | 77% | 72% |
| Reduce saturated fat: ≥75% of convenient foods portfolio volume will not exceed 1.1 grams of saturated fat per 100 Calories | 79%2 | 81% | 77% |
| 2030 Goals | 2025 | 20241 | 20231 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reduce sodium: ≥75% of our global convenient foods portfolio volume will meet or be below category sodium targets by 2030 | 49%2 | 44% | 36% |
| Diverse ingredients: Deliver 145 billion portions of diverse ingredients annually in our global convenient foods portfolio; such as legumes, whole grains, plant-based proteins, fruits and vegetables, and nuts and seeds by 2030 | 79 billion portions2 | 69 billion portions | 68 billion portions |
Regional and local nutrition ambitions
In addition to our nutrient- and ingredient-specific ambitions above, teams across the globe have worked with select local governments to establish additional objectives based on local dietary recommendations.
For example, in the European Union, where several countries have adopted the Nutri-Score nutrient profiling model, we have set an ambition to grow our “healthier snacking” business, specifically:
- Building a $500 million “healthier snacking” business in the EU by 2025, with products that would be compliant with a Nutri-Score B definition or better (as defined in July 2021). Our ambition is to grow that part of our business to $1 billion by 2030.
- Transforming a range of our snacks that currently rate D or E in Nutri-Score to be compliant with a C classification or better (as defined in July 2021). Our ambition is to grow that part of our business to $400 million by 2025, and to $500 million by 2030.
Progress against these European Union objectives are reported to the European Commission in an annual progress report.
In India, we are a signatory to the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India’s Eat Right Pledge, striving to increase positive nutrition like whole grains, fruits and vegetables, dairy, protein and hydration by expanding our portfolio containing one or more of these ingredients.
Trans fat
As a member of the International Food and Beverage Alliance (IFBA), PepsiCo has committed to:
- Continuing not to exceed 2g iTFA per 100g of fat/oil per product — which we met again in 20253 — in line with the WHO's overall objective of phasing out iTFA and partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs) from the global food supply; and
- Sharing best practices and help guide other companies, particularly small and medium enterprises, in the reduction of iTFA.
Actions and challenges
We continued to meet our 2025 nutrition ambitions and make progress against our 2030 goals by:
Offering existing products
Our U.S. Lightly Salted product line contains 50% less sodium than its traditional counterparts. Lay’s® Baked snacks are available in many global markets, bringing consumers great taste with less fat.
Renovating existing recipes
We converted Pepsi® to lower sugar formulations in markets such as China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and India, which contributed to achieving our 2025 added sugars reduction goal for the beverages portfolio. We continue to advance our sodium reduction efforts through product renovation and reformulation. Sodium reductions were implemented in UK Walkers Salted, India Lay’s® Classic Salted, and Australia Doritos® Cheese Supreme. In the U.S., the Tostitos® restage introduced 8 grams of whole grain per serving, providing consumers with additional Positive Choices options. In Colombia, the conversion to healthier oils was completed for Margarita®, Tostitos®, Doritos® and Cheetos®, bringing these products into alignment with our saturated fat commitment.
Launching new products
In 2025, we introduced Pepsi® Prebiotic Cola, an evolution of cola created to reflect the tastes and values of today's cola lovers. This innovation provides 5 grams of cane sugar and 30 Calories per serving, and contains no artificial sweeteners. It delivers the classic crisp, refreshing taste of Pepsi — with the added functional ingredient of 3 grams of prebiotic fiber.
In our convenient foods business, we continued to advance our portfolio of products aligned with our nutrition ambitions. In 2025, we introduced new products that meet our 2030 category-driven sodium targets, including Simply NKD Cheetos® and Simply NKD Doritos® in the U.S., also made with no artificial colors or flavors, and in Mexico through switch flavored campaign across Sabritas®, Doritos®, Tostitos® and Ruffles® brands. We also expanded products with alternative oils, including Simply Tostitos® made with avocado oil, and Baked Lay’s® and Baked Ruffles® made with olive oil with 50% less fat when compared to regular potato chips. Additionally, we expanded innovations that contribute to our diverse ingredients ambition, including Quaker® Fiber Instant Oatmeal in the U.S., Quaker® Chia & Flaxseed Instant Oats in China and Simply Doritos® in the U.S., which provides 8g of whole grain per serving.
In addition to new products and recipes, we have worked to advance our Positive Choices strategy through acquisitions. In 2024, we completed acquisitions of Sabra® and Siete®, which will enhance our portfolio of nutritious foods with simple ingredients. On the beverages side of the business, we announced our acquisition of poppi® — a functional soda brand that combines prebiotics, fruit juice, and apple cider vinegar with no more than 5 grams of sugar per serving — in early 2025.
Challenges
The global public health challenges facing our population are significant, and our efforts alone cannot solve them. But we aim to help make positive choices available to more people every day. Evolving consumer preferences and health authority recommendations require that we continue to adapt our product offerings to remain a leading convenient foods and drinks company.
Strategic collaboration
We believe we can achieve a greater contribution towards helping to solve the challenges posed by over- and under-nutrition by working together with other food and beverage companies. As an active member of the International Council of Beverage Associations, International Food and Beverage Alliance and the Consumer Goods Forum, we help drive progress on nutrition projects. We are also a member of the Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network, co-convened by GAIN and the World Food program. Through this initiative, we have committed to support efforts to address malnutrition through advocacy, workforce nutrition programs, and technical assistance to small businesses.
What's next?
PepsiCo understands the important role of nutrition in public health, and we remain focused on improvements to the nutritional value of our products by improving nutrient density within our portfolio of great tasting products, providing more positive choices for our consumers.
1See archived 2023-2024 Calculation Methodology for detail on how we measured progress on this metric
2See Calculation Methodology for detail on how we measure progress on this metric. Metric published August 13, 2026
3Results are based on assessment of our oils specifications across all markets globally, where we confirmed they reflect best practice in minimizing iTFA formation during refining of cooking oil, as well as finished product data from our Top 23 convenient foods markets that represent 88% of our global convenient foods volume in 2025 (excluding our Be & Cheery portfolio due to data limitations)
Resources
Downloads
Calculation methodology
Target metric
≥67% of beverage portfolio volume will have ≤100 Calories from added sugars per 12 oz. serving by 2025
How we measure
Assurance: Subjected to third-party limited assurance
Boundary: PepsiCo global beverage portfolio in Top 26 markets representing 75% of our global beverages volume in 2025
Exclusions: None
Baseline: None
Restatement from prior year(s): None
This metric measures the portion of our global beverage portfolio volume in our Top 26 beverages markets containing 100 Calories or less from added sugars per 12 ounce serving. It is calculated by dividing the total sales volume of PepsiCo’s beverage products with 100 Calories or less from added sugars per 12 oz. serving by the total sales volume of beverage products within the same 26 markets.
Target metric
≥75% of convenient foods portfolio volume will not exceed 1.3 milligrams of sodium per Calorie by 2025
How we measure
Assurance: Subjected to third-party limited assurance
Boundary: PepsiCo global convenient foods portfolio in Top 23 markets representing 88% of our global convenient foods volume in 2025
Exclusions: None
Baseline: None
Restatement from prior year(s): None
This metric measures the portion of our global convenient foods volume in our Top 23 convenient foods markets with 1.3 milligrams or less of sodium per Calorie. It is calculated by dividing the total number of kilograms of PepsiCo’s convenient foods portfolio sales volume with 1.3 milligrams or less of sodium per Calorie (within our Top 23 convenient foods markets) by PepsiCo’s total sales volume of convenient food products in kilograms within the same 23 markets.
Target metric
≥75% of global convenient foods portfolio volume will meet or be below category sodium targets by 2030
How we measure
Assurance: Subjected to third-party limited assurance
Boundary: PepsiCo global convenient foods portfolio in Top 23 markets representing 87% of our global convenient foods volume in 2025 (adjusted for the exclusions)
Exclusions: Dairy and baby food categories in Russia and Ukraine
Baseline: None
Restatement from prior year(s): None
This metric measures the portion of our global convenient foods volume in the Top 23 convenient foods markets that meet or are below sodium targets in milligrams per 100 grams thresholds by category. It is calculated by dividing the total number of kilograms of PepsiCo’s convenient foods portfolio sales volume (within our Top 23 convenient foods markets) meeting the respective category target or less of sodium per 100 grams by PepsiCo’s total sales volume of global convenient foods in kilograms within the same 23 markets.
Refer to the below table for the complete list of category sodium targets
| PepsiCo Convenient Foods Category | 2030 Category Sodium Threshold (mg/100g) |
|---|---|
| Ready-to-eat cereals | 280 |
| Plain hot cereals | 100 |
| Sweet hot cereals | 280 |
| Standard potato crisps | 500 |
| Sheeted snacks | 520 |
| Extruded snacks | 520 |
| Pelleted snacks | 520 |
| Snack mixes | 520 |
| Pretzels | 760 |
| Popcorn | 280 |
| Nuts and seeds | 280 |
| Sweet biscuits | 265 |
| Savoury biscuits and salted crackers | 600 |
| Pasta/noodles/grain (concentrate or dry mix) | 770 |
| Pasta/noodles/grains (prepared) | 230 |
| Dips and dipping sauces | 360 |
| Emulsion based dips (cream/cheese dips) | 500 |
| Cereal, nut and granola bars | 380 |
| Breads and rolls, including those with additions | 330 |
| Condiments (hot pepper sauce) | 650 |
| Condiments (Mexican-style sauce) | 360 |
| Yeast raised desserts and morning goods (cakes and sponges) | 205 |
| Yeast raised desserts and morning goods (pies and pastries) | 120 |
| Confectionery | 200 |
| Plain flour | 100 |
| Self raising/rising flour | 1,300 |
| Plain pasta | 25 |
| Dessert baking dry mixes | 780 |
| Unflavored rice/pasta/noodles/grains | 25 |
| Dried fruit (plain) | 100 |
| Fruit snacks | 200 |
| Syrup | 100 |
| Variety/pancake baking dry mixes | 960 |
| Frozen/refrigerated dough and batter (breads and rolls) | 375 |
| Frozen/refrigerated dough and batter (muffins and brownies) | 250 |
| Dried beans/pulses | 25 |
| Soups ready to eat (shelf stable and refrigerated) | 235 |
| Savoury hot cereals | 280 |
| Soft flour tortillas | 500 |
| Packaged handhelds | 470 |
| Seasoning mixes (dry mix, concentrated) | 6,000 |
| Pork rinds | 1,400 |
| Snack combo packs | 550 |
| Seasoned breadcrumbs & coatings | 1,340 |
| Cured meat | 1,000 |
Target metric
≥75% of convenient foods portfolio volume will not exceed 1.1 grams of saturated fat per 100 Calories by 2025
How we measure
Assurance: Subjected to third-party limited assurance
Boundary: PepsiCo global convenient foods portfolio in Top 23 markets representing 88% of our global convenient foods volume in 2025
Exclusions: None
Baseline: None
Restatement from prior year(s): None
This metric measures the portion of our global convenient foods volume in our Top 23 convenient foods markets with 1.1 grams or less of saturated fat per 100 Calories. It is calculated by dividing the total number of kilograms of PepsiCo’s convenient foods portfolio sales volume with 1.1 grams or less of saturated fat per 100 Calories (within our global Top 23 convenient foods markets) by PepsiCo’s total sales volume of convenient food products in kilograms within the same 23 markets.
Target metric
Deliver 145 billion portions of diverse ingredients annually in our global convenient foods portfolio; such as legumes, whole grains, plant-based proteins, fruits and vegetables, and nuts and seeds by 2030
How we measure
Assurance: Subjected to third-party limited assurance
Boundary: PepsiCo global convenient foods portfolio in Top 23 markets representing 87% of our global convenient foods volume in 2025 (adjusted for the exclusions)
Exclusions: Dairy and baby food categories in Russia and Ukraine
Baseline: None
Restatement from prior year(s): None
This metric measures the number of portions across our convenient foods portfolio volume annually in our Top 23 convenient foods markets containing threshold amounts of diverse ingredients (i.e., legumes, whole grains, plant-based proteins, fruits and vegetables and nuts and seeds) per 100 grams while also meeting our sodium, saturated fat and added sugars target criteria. If all product criteria are met, then the total portions of diverse ingredient within each qualifying product are summed across the Top 23 convenient foods markets to create the total diverse ingredient portions delivered annually.
Our aim is to ensure each portion will provide approximately 10% of the suggested daily amount of a diverse ingredient, based on published dietary guidelines for select countries, WHO Healthy Diet Fact Sheet, and Eat Lancet Planetary Healthy Diet report.
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