Consumers choose less salt

Wednesday 2 February 2005

Research from the Food Standards Agency shows a rise in people making an effort to cut down on how much salt they eat and are changing what they buy to help them.

Following the launch of the FSA's Sid the Slug salt campaign in September 2004, the Agency's tracking research is now showing a steady increase in the number of people recognising that they might have a problem with too much salt in their diet and are now trying to cut down.

Between August 2004 and January 2005:

• there has been a 32% increase in people claiming to be making a special effort to cut down on salt
• there has been a 31% increase in those who look at labelling to find out salt content
• there has been a 27% increase in those who say that salt content would affect their decision to buy a product 'all of the time'

Food Standards Agency Director of Consumer Choice and Dietary Health, Gill Fine, said: 'Consumers appear to be taking food and health messages on board. Our research shows that just four months after we launched our salt reduction campaign, more people are looking at labels for information on salt and more people are choosing to buy products with less salt in them.

�We are pleased with the response from food companies that are reducing salt in products and labelling salt as well as sodium. These steps help consumers who want to improve their health. However, there is still a lot more to be done before we hit the target of no more than 6g of salt each day for an adult by 2010.'

Every day at least 26 million people eat more than the recommended maximum daily intake of 6g of salt. Men are eating the most with a daily average of 11g of salt while women consume an average of 8.1g a day.

Eating too much salt is a significant risk factor in developing high blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease and stroke. Studies show that reducing salt in the diet can lower blood pressure within four weeks. About 75% of salt consumed is from processed foods, 10-15% is added by consumers and 10-15% is naturally present in food.