Bonnie: Just last month, the FDA announced that it’s planning to gradually lower the allowable sodium content in processed foods. Because the major food companies knew this initiative was forthcoming, each made its own broad, sweeping sodium-reduction announcement prior to the FDA’s. Those companies include Kraft, General Mills, Sara Lee, Campbell’s and ConAgra.

Sodium, as you may know, can contribute to high blood pressure and lead to stroke, kidney disease, heart disease or heart failure.

We’re all winners with these food giants removing excess sodium from their processed foods. What I like most is that with many of the products, there’s no perceivable taste difference. Take these new provolone slices, with 25 percent less sodium than Sargento’s regular version.

Sodium is not as big an issue with cheese as it is with other highly processed foods from the just-mentioned large food companies. Still, cutbacks everywhere do help.

Way to go Sargento! Now how about creating delicious lower-sodium versions of all your cheeses?

Bryan: I knew of provolone from a young age (very Italian neighborhoods and delis), but I didn’t really experience provolone cheese until I moved to Philadelphia. See, I grew up in a cheddar family, and if it was cheese and it was ending up on a sandwich, it was likely from Vermont and quite sharp.

A move from New Haven to Philadelphia soon changed all that; subs became hoagies and cheddar cheese somehow seemed foreign to all the sandwich shops. “You want that hoagie with provolone?” they’d ask. “Why not?” I said. “Why not?”

Why not indeed? I discovered that provolone is a fantastic sandwich topper! While lacking the strong, biting sensation of my traditional sharp cheddar, it has a rich, creamy and sometimes slightly smoky flavor that is a tremendous addition to many sandwich varieties. Some cheeses can really overpower the other, subtler flavors of your meal; a spicy pepper jack, an extra sharp cheddar, a smelly farmhouse brie… they all have their places. But sometimes, I’m just looking for that bit of fat, that bit of creaminess to meld my sandwich together, to make it cheesy. I’m looking for provolone.

What’s better than a melty, gooey sandwich? One with less sodium and the same flavor!

Sargento Foods has been a household name in the cheese industry since 1953. Today, they are a leading producer of natural shredded, sliced and snack cheeses. The name is synonymous with deli cheese in America, and they continue to come out with new products, catering to the latest demands of their rather large cheese-consuming market.

Sargento’s newest line in an ever-widening array of offerings is a series of reduced-sodium cheeses. I kind of feel like a diet soda ad, but I’m not scared to say that this cheese offers all the flavor of a normal cheese without all that cheese-eating guilt. It does still have the fat (hey, that is the flavor!), but Sargento’s latest provolone also has 25 percent less sodium than previous cheeses. The company is listening to its customers, as recent surveys show that almost 50 percent of consumers reading food labels are looking specifically at sodium content.

In fact, many organizations see high sodium consumption as one of the greatest problems with the American diet, with average sodium content at about twice the government’s recommended levels. So, cut out the salt where you can, and why not start with a tasty, grilled cheese sandwich?

Eric: Sargento Reduced Sodium Provolone (as well as their other varieties) is a great building block for the fight against food ignorance.

Americans consume approximately 13 pounds of cheese annually per capita, including more than one pound of Provolone. That’s a somewhat staggering statistic, and one that helps in understanding the growing obesity epidemic in this country. I believe that educating people on what they eat is the best starting point for helping to curb obesity and heart disease, and a company like Sargento is a beacon of light by offering reduced fat and now reduced sodium cheese. Of course, there are many companies out there that are helping to educate and make a difference in the world of food, but Sargento’s efforts involve a product that is closer to Americans than most: cheese.

I see this product as part of the long-tail method of eating properly — first you make the switch to a whole wheat bread, the next week you replace your mayonnaise with avocado, and for the last step you reduce the sodium in your cheese. Take baby steps with your diet improvement, and realize that there are certain companies out there trying to help.