Consumers benefit from salt reduction efforts

Between September 2006 and September 2008, shoppers bought 3,794 tonnes less salt in five categories: bread (including morning goods), breakfast cereals, canned goods, crisps, and savoury home cooking products (including table salt). This huge ongoing reduction can be attributed to the food industry's continued reformulation of products, as well as the increased consumer awareness of the importance of eating a diet that is lower in salt. In the bread category, the data show that products bought by consumers over the two-year period contained 828 tonnes less salt. Shoppers saved 490 tonnes of salt when buying breakfast cereals, while the canned goods category had 573 tonnes less. The crisps category had 210 tonnes less salt, and savoury home cooking products posted the biggest salt reduction at 1,693 tonnes. Julian Hunt, Food and Drink Federation Director of Communications commented: "This research gives us a snapshot of how salt levels are reducing, and builds on the reformulation work our members have been carrying out over many years. "Bread and cereals are two good examples of categories where salt reduction has been ongoing for some considerable time. It also shows how educational the widespread use of front-of-pack Guideline Daily Amounts has been, with growing consumer understanding that they should consume no more than 6g of salt per day."