Compass cuts eight tonnes of salt from customers’ diets

Following the launch of the Government's Public Health Responsibility Deal in March, Compass pledged to reduce salt in the food it serves. In what it claims is an industry first, the FM giant has cut the size of the salt sachets it provides by 25% from 0.8g to 0.6g. As it purchases nearly 40 million sachets of salt a year that means a decrease of 7,850kg of salt a year for Compass; that is nearly eight tonnes less. "Reducing the amount of salt actually worked out more expensive for us because the supplier needed to set a special production run," said Compass UK managing director Ian Sarson. "If a similar practice was adopted across the whole foodservice sector we're talking about taking 50 or 60 tonnes of salt out of the UK diet." The Food Standards Agency says most people eat too much salt, which can raise blood pressure and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. The guideline daily amount (GDA) of salt that should be consumed by adults is 6g, meaning that the new 0.6g sachets are equivalent to just 10% of an adult's GDA. Mick Hickman, Compass's Foodservice Director, added: "This is an industry leading move, and is undoubtedly a really simple and effective way to help people reduce their daily salt intake and take healthier steps towards a balanced diet, all without them even really noticing." In other changes Compass is analysing more than 2,000 recipes to ensure accurate nutritional information in the form of GDAs can now be provided to customers. In addition, more than 4,000 product specifications are being reviewed to ensure all artificial trans fats from the food served are removed by the end of 2011.