“Everybody’s looking for mustard,” said Stephan Lochbühler, an owner of Magnifique, a chain of French bakeries in Bogotá, who said that for the past few months, he had been making his own mustard, with subpar results.

Some local producers of other products included in the national health rule have already started modifying their sodium contents to keep them on store shelves — a huge win, according to health care policymakers. Leendert Nederveen, who heads the Pan American Health Organization’s nutrition unit, defended the Colombian policy, saying it was “very well done.”

“It is the function of the government to protect the consumer,” said Mr. Nederveen, adding that 65 countries had established sodium limits for processed products.

High sodium intake increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, which is the leading cause of death in the country, said Evelyne Degraff, an adviser for the health organization in Colombia.