Salt Awareness Week

Action on Salt‘s yearly awareness campaign is currently taking place and this year’s theme, “Salt It Out” for good, aims to highlight the impact of salt on our health, while working with partners across the sector to call for stronger action from the food industry and Government to protect our communities from this harm.

Recent insights show that over half of people in the UK are not confident in how much salt they consume in a day, and that the average daily intake stands at 8.4g a day – well above the recommended maximum of 6g. As we consume more salt in our diets, we increase the risk for a range of serious health conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, stroke, kidney disease, vascular dementia, osteoporosis, and stomach cancer.

Sarah Perman, Policy Lead for Obesity for the Association of Directors of Public Health and Director for Public Health for Hertfordshire County Council, said:

“Too much of the food we eat is overloaded with salt, increasing the risk of developing lifelong health issues, stomach cancer, and a range of sometimes fatal heart conditions.

“But eating too much salt is influenced by far more than personal choice. Many of the cheapest, most convenient foods are filled with salt, while healthier options are around twice as expensive. Unhealthier options are also often made more appealing thanks to sophisticated marketing campaigns and misleading packaging.

“Unless we make healthier alternatives more appealing, accessible, and affordable, rates of avoidable illnesses will continue to soar. This will in turn shorten lives, put strain on families, hold people back from working and engaging in their communities, while increasing the pressure on already overstretched health and care services.

“There is no quick fix. But we know that clearer labelling, tighter advertising restrictions, and reducing the amount of salt added to food during the manufacturing process will help create an environment that supports everyone to cut down on their salt intake.

“Across the country, Directors of Public Health work with partners including planning departments, trading standards, local businesses, and community and voluntary groups, to create places where eating healthier food can become the easy option.”