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Moves to cut salt could save lives

Campaigners have welcomed the announcement of revised recommendations for salt intake by the Food Standards Agency and the Department of Health.

Members of Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) have been fighting since 1996 to raise the issue on the public agenda in the face of opposition from the food industry.

The latest recommendations are based on a new report by the government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, which says the adult daily intake of salt should be cut from an average of 10-12g to 6g.

And, for the first time, the committee has set target levels of salt intake for children according to age. Parents are advised to cut the levels they use in cooking and at the table, and to check the labels when buying for their children.

CASH says that 80 per cent of our current salt intake is hidden in processed and fast food, and calls on all food manufacturers to cut the salt concentration in these products by at least 10 per cent, and to sustain reductions over the next ten years.

Salt is important to the food industry because it boosts the weight of meat products at no cost, makes unpalatable food edible and increases consumption of soft drinks and mineral waters, says CASH.

But a 3 g reduction in salt intake, which could be achieved with the food industry’s collaboration in five years, would cut the incidence of stroke by 22 per cent and of coronary heart disease by 16 per cent, saving 35,000 deaths a year in the UK, it says.

Meanwhile, the Food and Drink Federation has announced an industry-wide programme to cut salt in breakfast cereals, soups and sauces. It plans to cut sodium by 10 per cent in soup and sauces by the end of this year.