MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. — The Campbell Soup Co.'s kid-oriented soups, which feature characters such as Dora the Explorer and Batman on the cans, are getting their second sodium reduction in three years, the company announced yesterday.

This time, the 12 soups for kids will have 480 milligrams per serving, which means the company can legally label them as healthy foods for the first time.

"Your kids can enjoy Dora the Explorer even more," said Douglas R. Conant, Campbell's president and chief executive. "They'll be down to heart-healthy levels."

For Campbell's, high sodium levels have been a big health concern for decades. Lower-salt soups have become a big business for the world's largest soup maker. In 2003, it sold $100 million worth of reduced-sodium soups. Now, Campbell's says, the lower-salt soups are bringing in $650 million a year in retail sales.

Initially, sodium levels in the kids' soups were brought down an average of 25 percent. This year, they'll be brought down another 20 percent.

The company also announced yesterday that it is reformulating 36 ready-to-serve soups and giving them a new brand name: "Campbell's Select Harvest."

All the soups sold in cans and microwavable bowls currently labeled "Campbell's Select" will be called "Campbell's Select Harvest."

The more upscale soups sold in boxes under that label will not be part of the new line.

While they will be lower in sodium, the "Campbell's Select Harvest" soups cannot be labeled as healthy because they will not meet other federal criteria for areas such as fat and cholesterol.

In all, 48 Campbell's soups are getting makeovers this year, bringing to 85 the total number of soup varieties that have had their sodium reduced since 2006.