British consumers urged to reduce salt intake

British consumers have been warned that they are endangering their health by eating too much salt – with men most at risk as they take almost twice the daily recommended limit.

Launching a major public health campaign to reduce high salt consumption in the UK, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) warned that every day at least 26 million people eat more than the recommended daily limit of 6g of salt. Men are eating the most with a daily average of 11.0g of salt while women consume an average of 8.1g a day.

Eating too much salt is a significant factor in high blood pressure – the "silent killer" which is a cause or contributing factor in 170,000 deaths a year in England. Those living with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease and stroke, and twice as likely to die from these diseases as those with normal levels, according to the FSA.

Underscoring its message, the agency noted recent studies which have shown that reducing salt intake can lower blood pressure within four weeks – so helping to protect the individual and reduce the cost to the NHS. The cost to the NHS of prescriptions for reducing high blood pressure is around £840 million, nearly 15% of the total annual cost of all primary care drugs, the FSA said.

Agency chairman, Sir John Krebs, said: "The human cost in terms of illness and death and the costs to the NHS are very high. Cutting down on salt can significantly reduce your risk of developing high blood pressure. Everybody has got used to eating too much salt. We want to encourage everyone to see how they can reduce the salt they eat.

"By cutting back on adding salt to food at home and when eating out, as well as looking at what's on the labels of processed foods, it's possible for people to make positive health choices."

The agency also re-iterated its message that further reductions of salt in processed foods and better labelling of salt on food products. Approximately 75% of salt consumed is from processed foods, 10-15% is added by consumers and 10-15% is naturally present in food.

Sir John Krebs said that the food industry was about two-thirds of the way to reaching the agency's target of a 1g reduction in processed foods by the end of 2005.

However, the Salt Manufacturers’ Association (SMA) has accused the Department of Health and the FSA of "ignoring inconvenient evidence in pursuit of a campaign that unfairly targets one of life’s essentials".

The SMA’s general secretary, Peter Sherratt, said: “The government would have us believe that the evidence for salt reduction is now beyond question.

“The reality is that it is relying heavily on research that is at best inconclusive and contradictory. The Department of Health admits that it has not conducted any assessment of the risks of population sodium reduction to the elderly nor, so far as we are aware, of the risks to any other vulnerable group.

“The campaign loses sight of the fact that if you are a normal, healthy individual, you do not need to cut your salt intake. Your kidneys very effectively filter any salt that is not essential to your body, and it is excreted,” he said.

Mr Sherratt added: “Each one of us has the equivalent of a cupful of salt in our bodies and it is working very hard to keep us alive. Salt is essential to life - the sodium it contains is an electrolyte that helps maintain the fluid balance in your blood cells and transmits electrical impulses between your brain, your nerves, and your muscles.

“As the oldest preservative known to man, salt also plays a vital role in protecting us from food poisoning. It is also a life-saver in hospitals for saline drips and kidney dialysis."

(gmcg/mb)