It’s time to shine the spotlight on SALT   

Regularly eating too much salt can increase our risk of developing high blood pressure.    

High blood pressure is the main cause of strokes, and a major cause of heart attacks, the two biggest causes of death around the world, but with 5 million people unknowingly living with high blood pressure in the UK, it’s time for the spotlight to shine on salt.   

Reducing salt in our diets is one of the quickest and most effective ways to reduce our blood pressure and improve our health. What we don’t often realise is just how much salt we are eating because most of the salt we eat is already in the food we buy.    

On average, we are consuming 8g of salt a day. 2g more than the maximum limit in the UK. This may not sound much, but just 1g less a day has been said to prevent over 4,000 heart attacks and strokes every year.   

Regardless of our age, gender or ethnicity, we all stand to benefit from reducing our salt intake. The earlier we adapt to a lower salt diet, the less damage we create for our hearts, but with blood pressure in children rising, it's clear that salt is not just an issue for older generations.  

Over the course of the week, Action on Salt will be bringing the spotlight back on salt for the sake of all our health, and highlighting how the salt present in everyday foods really add up.   

They will be calling for the food industry, including the eating out of home sector, to do more to reduce the amount of salt they add to our food, including providing us with healthier options, and encouraging the public to make small changes to their eating, cooking and purchasing habits. 

Action on Salt is a group of specialists concerned with salt and its effects on health. We are successfully working to reach a consensus with the food industry and government over the harmful effects of a high salt diet, and bring about a reduction in the amount of salt in processed foods as well as salt added to cooking, and the table. Action on Salt is supported by 22 expert scientific members.