Food & Hospitality Industry Urged to Cut Unnecessary Salt

Today, 1 February, marks the launch of National Salt Awareness Week, a campaign by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) to highlight the dangers of a high salt diet.

According to research carried out by CASH, as many as 9 out of 10 people in the UK know that salt can damage their health, yet very few have any idea how. Only 34% are aware that it can lead to stroke and 61% heart disease; even fewer people aware that salt is linked to conditions such osteoporosis, stomach cancer, obesity, kidney stones and kidney disease, which can affect anyone.

Professor Graham MacGregor, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, and Chairman of CASH comments, “The food industry is responsible for our current high salt intake; it is imperative that they make larger reductions in the amount of unnecessary salt that they add to their products immediately, this is vital if we are to reduce our salt intake to the maximum recommended target of 6 grams a day or less.”

CASH is using National Salt Awareness Week 2010 to raise awareness of the dangers of a high salt diet, and is working with a number of UK charities such as The Stroke Association, National Osteoporosis Society, Cancer Research UK and Kidney Research UK to take the message across the country, along with some high profile supporters:

The campaign is working with numerous UK charities and has supporters from the hospitality industry in Anthony Worrall Thompson, Anton Edelman and Galton Blackiston. The Editor of London Restaurant Guide, Peter Hardens, has urged, “Too many restaurants and food chains are still far too liberal and unthinking in their use of salt, and seemingly in ignorance of its potential poor health consequences. But it can be nothing more than a lazy and cheap way of adding flavour to food, or a knee-jerk obeisance to tradition. I fully support the event and urge the food industry - and in particular the restaurant trade - to think about how much salt they add to our food”

One Industry supporter is Browns Food Service in Rugby, who has been actively promoting low salt products to help pass the message on to as many chefs as possible to think about the salt they add to their dishes, and maybe even pass the message to their customers too. As Nigel Martin, Group Sales & Marketing Director, says, “When a 7oz grilled rump steak typically contains less than 0.4g of salt, it’s easy to see how you don’t have to sacrifice taste to eat less salt.”

Further information, recipes and free promotional material on National Salt Awareness Week can be found on www.actionsalt.org.uk

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