Salt intake to be shaken up
Pub customers will be demanding lower-salt meals by this time next year, according to a leading food expert.
Dr Andrew Wadge, director of food safety policy at the Food Standards Agency, said: "We will see an increasing market over the coming year, for low-salt meals particularly in the catering industry."
Speaking at the Catering Forum, Dr Wadge said the FSA was about to launch a big public awareness campaign to educate people about the dangers of high-salt consumption.
"There is a clear link between high salt intake and high blood pressure," he pointed out. "People with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease and strokes and this is a cause of 170,000 deaths every year in England alone."
The FSA intends to slash the average intake of salt to 6g by 2010 and Dr Wadge said it was important pubs and other catering outlets supported their efforts.
"When we launch the awareness campaign we are confident that customers will begin demanding lower-salt meals," he said.
And he added that food manufacturers were coming under increasing pressure to cut the amount of salt in processed foods.
"We know that some foods, such as bacon and cured meats, will always be salty," he said. "But other foods, bread, soups or cereals for example, needn't be. We accept it will be a gradual process as people need to be weaned off salt but manufacturers can make these changes."
He said pub food supplier Brakes had already made great efforts to reduce the amount of salt in its products and other manufacturers, including Heinz, are also working with the FSA's guidelines.
By 2010 the FSA wants to cut the average daily intake of salt to:
- Age four to six - 3g
- Age seven to 10 - 5g
- Age 11 to 65 - 6g
At the moment the average intake for women aged 11 to 65 is 8.1g and for men is 11g.
Where salt comes from:
- Naturally occurring in unprocessed food - 15 per cent
- Added in cooking or at the table - 15 - 20 per cent
- Manufactured foods - 65-70 per cent
