Ferré & Consulting Blog (English Version)

In the US, nine out of every ten adults consume too much salt, a new report has found.

The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report revealed that only 9.6 per cent of adults kept their daily sodium intake below the recommended government guidelines.

They were found to consume too much salt by eating pizza, crisps and other foods with high sodium levels, all of which contribute to a raised heart attack and stroke risk.

If adults were to reduce their salt intake by around half a teaspoon every day, new cases of heart disease could be cut by as many as 120,000 and there could be 66,000 fewer strokes, the report found.

“Sodium has become so pervasive in our food supply that it’s difficult for the vast majority of Americans to stay within recommended limits,” said Janelle Peralez Gunn, leader of the study and a public health analyst with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A UK report from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence released this week claims that up to 40,000 people in the country could be saved each year if food manufacturers reduced the levels of salt and saturated fat in their products.

Health Morbidity, Mortality Weekly Report, salt consumption

The food industry needs to communicate effectively with consumers in order to lower people’s salt intake, it has been claimed.

According to the European Salt Producers’ Association (ESA), responsible salt consumption is part of a healthy diet, meaning that companies promising to reduce salt use by set amounts is not helpful.

“We are opposing the focus on nutrient reductions as these are misleading the consumers and will be providing a much bigger health problem,” the body’s managing director Wouter Lox told Food Navigator.

“Consuming nutrient reduced foods does not equal installing a well-balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle.”

He added that the food industry should be promoting eating salt in moderation alongside a balanced diet and active lifestyle.

Earlier this year, research undertaken at Stanford University in the US highlighted that lowering people’s salt intake by just ten per cent could prevent thousands of heart attacks from occurring annually.

Health healthy diet, salt consumption