Unilever’s group chief executive Patrick Cescau has urged caution against moving too fast in reformulating products for fear of alienating consumers.

Using salt as example, he said it was necessary to gradually wean people off a taste for it over time. “If we get ahead of our consumers they will vote with their feet and look for alternative products that meet their taste perceptions.”

Over the past three years Unilever had evaluated more than 19,000 of its products against a nutrition profiling model and reformulated many to reduce fat, sugar and salt levels, he said. This had resulted in the elimination of 15,000t of trans fats, 10,000t of saturated fat, 10,000t of sugar and 2,000t of salt from its brands, he said.

“On formulation, we need to drive down levels of sugar, salt, trans fat and saturated fat in our products,” said Cescau. “Wherever possible trans fat should be eliminated entirely.”