Food companies will be asked to put less salt in popular dishes such as
sandwiches and chips as part of a new government initiative.The campaign aims to reduce salt intake of people in a quarter, reducing your daily intake of 8.1 g per day average to 6 g.
Public
Health Minister Anna Soubry launched the new strategy, setting out food
companies to reduce the objectives of the amount of salt they put in
their food.New
targets will be set for maximum popular dishes and catering sector and
takeaways should "do more" to reduce the amount of salt, the Department
of Health.
The
department said it wanted more companies to sign up to the Government's
strategy to reduce salt under the Accountability Agreement.It
comes after a 2012 ComRes poll of 1,805 adults found that more English
than half of the population (53%) never or almost never consider the
amount of salt in food purchases, despite more than four out of five people (86%) knowing too much salt is bad for your health.Ms
Soubry said:
"The voluntary approach is working and we have seen
results in our daily meals, but to get the most impact, we need more
companies pledged to reduce levels of salt, especially in the kitchen
and take sector ".Responsibility
Food Network offer chair Dr. Susan Jebb, said: "It is essential to
maintain the momentum in our efforts to reduce salt in our diet if we
want to avoid thousands of premature deaths each year from stroke and
heart disease linked to the consumption of too much salt .
"The consumer campaign group Which? urged
the Government to "name and shame" companies that do not adhere to the
new salt targets and change the law if voluntary action fails.Richard Lloyd, Which? executive
director, said: "The government has to set these targets salt reduction
as soon as possible new name and shame companies that do not respond
and be prepared to legislate if voluntary action fails."
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