Unilever Salt Reduction

Why less salt is better for you

You may not have a high blood pressure now, but too much salt in your diet increases your chance of developing high blood pressure over time. Worldwide, one in four (26%) adults has high blood pressure, and approximately 8 million deaths are attributed to it annually.

Raised blood pressure is one of the most important risk factors in the development of cardiovascular disease, accounting for 60% of all strokes and 50% of all heart disease [1].

Eating too much salt is one of the strongest risk factors in the development of raised blood pressure, and this risk increases with age. The sooner you can lower your salt intake, the better your chances of managing blood pressure and enjoying long term health will be. It is particularly important for children to develop healthy dietary habits and avoid developing a taste for salty foods.

How much salt should I eat everyday?

Most people eat more salt than is good for them. Typically people consume between 9-12 g of salt per day, twice the amount recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) (5g daily). Children under the age of six should eat no more than 3 g of salt a day. While our current typical salt intake is the equivalent of two heaped teaspoons, in developed countries, about 75% of this does not come from table or cooking salt but rather from the manufactured or pre-prepared foods we eat.

To find out how much salt you typically eat take a few moments to do the salt test.

Click here for the salt calculator.

What can I do to moderate my salt intake?

As a manufacturer of tasty foods, we know how difficult it can be to reduce salt levels, especially because saltiness is a preferred taste. Salt has a number of further roles in food processing and preservation, making it additionally challenging for food manufacturers to reduce salt content. We at Unilever want to play a key role in helping reduce your daily salt intake by increasing the availability of tasty foods with a reduced salt level. We have been running a programme to reduce salt across our broad range of products for many years, a programme that will gather pace over the next five years.

We hope that reducing salt in our products will encourage other companies to do the same, but you’ll need to get involved too. There are lots of things you can do to lower your salt intake and prevent your blood pressure rising.

Even if your blood pressure isn’t high right now, your risk increases with age so there’s no time like the present to start taking action. Some easy steps include choosing reduced salt foods at the supermarket, limiting the amount of salt you add when cooking as well as at the table, and eating a variety of fresh, healthy foods. You can’t go wrong with fruit and vegetables. They are naturally very low in sodium (the part of salt that increases blood pressure) and natural providers of potassium which is great for lowering blood pressure. Aim to eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables every day.

Tips for eating less salt

Check the labels on your food

• Many countries require food manufacturers to label salt or sodium on their foods’ packaging. Next time you’re in the supermarket, be sure to check the food labels to see how much salt is contained – in total grams and as a percentage of your total daily allowance (GDA) per portion. Always try to choose a product with lower salt. Aim for a total salt intake of no more than 5g a day.

• Salt or sodium? Salt levels are often stated on the pack as sodium, and sodium is the mineral in salt that causes problems for blood pressure. Sodium is expressed in mg. To calculate the salt level, multiply the mg of sodium by 2.5 and then divide by 1,000. This will give you the equivalent grams of salt. See table below for a few typical examples from the United Kingdom.

Avoid salty snacks

• Try and replace salty snacks, such as crisps and salted nuts with lower salt alternatives. Unsalted nuts, fruit and low fat yoghurt are great to satisfy your hunger pangs.

Don’t add salt to food from a salt shaker – particularly before you’ve even tasted it

• Before you add salt to your food – during and after cooking – make sure you try it first. More often than not food will contain salt so you probably do not need to add any extra. Cutting out this extra salt could really help you reduce your total daily intake.

Spice things up

• If your food needs some extra flavour, instead of salt try adding other flavour boosters like spices, herbs or garlic - all healthy alternatives to salt.

• Using seasoning mixes with herbs and spices in place of salt is an easy way to get less sodium and more taste in your dishes

Use the right type of salt

• If you need to add salt, it’s better to use salt which has had some of the sodium removed and replaced with other minerals like potassium or magnesium. Be sure to check the ingredients on back of pack first before buying salt. Be warned! Fancy sea salt or rock salt or salt flakes tend to have the same amount of sodium as your average table salt and are rarely any healthier for you.

[1] WASH - http://www.worldactiononsalt.com/health/Salt_and_health/blood_pressure.htm