Food industry shows ‘stalled progress’ to reduce salt intakes, new analysis finds

A examine led by researchers from the College of Oxford discovered that, total, the typical salt content material of meals merchandise bought at supermarkets confirmed no change between 2015 and 2020. The outcomes have been revealed in PLOS Medication.

Extra salt consumption will increase the chance of hypertension and is considered answerable for no less than 2.5 million deaths worldwide every year, largely from strokes and heart problems (World Well being Group).

Lowering salt consumption is due to this fact a public well being precedence. Since 2003, the UK Authorities has set a collection of voluntary targets to encourage the meals {industry} to reformulate merchandise to comprise much less salt. These targets aren’t legally-binding, and it has been unclear how a lot progress has been made in recent times.

To analyze this, researchers from the College of Oxford assessed whether or not the quantity of salt in a variety of various meals bought in supermarkets had modified between 2015 and 2020. The examine was based mostly on the 9 grocery meals classes that contribute probably the most to adults’ salt consumption within the UK. For every year, the evaluation included roughly 8,000-9,500 meals merchandise from 400 totally different manufacturers.

Key findings:

• The typical salt content material of all meals merchandise within the examine fell by 5%, from 1.04g per 100g in 2015, to 0.99g per 100g in 2020, though this was not statistically important.
• The largest reductions have been seen in breakfast cereals (-16%) and processed beans, potatoes and greens (-11%), however there was no change for bread (-2%) and prepared meals (+1%). None of those adjustments have been statistically important.
• The classes with the best salt content material in 2020 have been savory snacks (1.6g per 100g on common) and cheese (1.6g per 100g). Merchandise with greater than 1.5g salt per 100g are classed as ‘excessive’ in salt.
• The whole quantity of salt bought from all meals merchandise decreased from 2.41g per particular person per day in 2015, to 2.25g in 2020: a discount of 0.16g per particular person (6.7%). A lot of the salt bought got here from three classes: bread (24%), meat, seafood and options (19%), and cheese (12%).
• For sure merchandise (prepared meals, pizzas and soups) the quantity of salt bought elevated, with any discount of salt content material offset by rising gross sales.
• General, there was little change within the common salt content material and complete quantity of salt bought from these meals.

The examine didn’t embody desk salt or salt consumed at eating places, cafes, or quick meals, therefore the entire quantity of salt consumed per particular person shall be a lot greater.

Based on the analysis group, a number of causes could clarify why little latest progress has been made to scale back salt in meals merchandise. Reformulating meals merchandise may be technically difficult, particularly the place salt acts as a preservative; there may be client resistance to low salt varieties; and there was a latest shift in focus by {industry} and coverage makers in direction of sugar and calorie discount as a substitute.

Lead creator of the examine, Dr. Lauren Bandy (Nuffield Division of Major Care Well being Sciences, Oxford College) says, “our outcomes display that total progress to scale back salt consumption has stalled. Voluntary targets alone could also be inadequate to realize the Authorities’s goal of a inhabitants salt consumption of lower than 6g per day and extra coverage measures could be wanted to realize additional progress. This might embody obligatory reporting of salt gross sales by producers to enhance transparency—as has been referred to as for within the Nationwide Meals Technique.”

Professor Graham MacGregor, Professor of Cardiovascular Medication and Chairman of Motion on Salt (who weren’t immediately concerned within the examine), says that “decreasing salt is probably the most cost-effective measure for decreasing blood stress and decreasing the variety of individuals struggling and dying from strokes, coronary heart illness and life altering disabilities. The UK was as soon as thought of world-leading in our method to salt discount, however this paper and lots of others earlier than it makes it clear that the voluntary method is now not match for goal.”

The 9 classes of meals merchandise included within the evaluation have been: bread; breakfast cereals; butter and spreads; cheese; meat, seafood and options; processed beans, potatoes and greens; prepared meals, soup and pizza; sauces and condiments; and savory snacks.

Info on the salt content material of meals was sourced from two databases that acquire product data (together with nutrient composition information) from the web sites of the main UK supermarkets. Certainly one of these platforms, foodDB, was constructed by Oxford College researchers and collects data on round 120,000 merchandise every week throughout the UK. Retail gross sales information have been obtained from Euromonitor Worldwide, a personal market analysis firm that’s consultant of the entire packaged meals market.