We'd like to thank the following charities for their support of Salt Awareness Week 2020:

Adopt a School:

"As a food education charity working with chefs to teach children about food and how it impacts our bodies and the environment, The Royal Academy of Culinary Arts’ Adopt a School Trust supports Salt Awareness Week. Even if we never actually add salt ourselves, it is not easy to know how much salt is already in the food we consume. Therefore, we urge food producers to help us out by reducing the salt they use in their food, opting for other healthier ways to enhance flavour."

 

Blood Pressure UK:

"Blood Pressure UK wholeheartedly supports Salt Awareness Week by Action on Salt. This campaign is important because it helps people to understand just how much salt some foods contain and that salt is often hidden in foods that we may believe are healthy. Salt consumption, particularly hidden salt can cause high blood pressure, which is the single biggest risk factor for stroke and CVD. We believe the daily limit on salt is vital in helping to lower blood pressure and prevent CVD, and we hope as many people as possible are able to monitor the salt content in their meals as a result of this campaign."

 

Caroline Walker Trust:

"The Caroline Walker Trust is dedicated to the improvement of public health through good food. Established in 1989 to continue the work of the late, distinguished nutritionist, and campaigner Caroline Walker, the Trust is a charity which undertakes specific projects funded by grants and donations, for vulnerable groups including children and older people.

There is strong evidence for a causal relationship between salt intake and blood pressure. A lower salt intake is associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, all-cause mortality, and other conditions. The WHO identified a reduction in salt intake as one of the most cost-effective measures countries can take to improve population health outcomes.

PHE’s most recent survey in 2014 found that in England adults were consuming on average 8g with some as much as over 20g a day1. With the presence of hidden salt in many of our foods and drinks, people are consuming too much salt without realising it. As per research, about four-fifths of our daily intake comes from salt already present in the foods we buy from the market.

In order to reduce the health risks related to high salt intake, it is vital to look into the salt reduction strategies and set strict monitoring for food industry. A collective approach is needed from retail industry, including action from government, local authorities on salt reduction.

The Caroline Walker Trust fully support this year’s theme ‘Hide and Seek’! We urge the food industry and local food outlets to reduce salt in their products for nations’ better health. We appreciate and support the salt awareness week campaign led by Action on Salt."

1. Published by Noli Dinkovski https://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Article/2020/02/06/Food-industry-set-to-face-new-salt-reduction-targets

 

Chefs in Schools:

"Chefs in Schools support the call for greater transparency around salt in food. In schools, we advocate cooking from fresh, unprocessed ingredients, rather than packet sauces and mixes, which all too often contain considerably higher levels of added sugar and salt. We encourage all schools to check in with their chefs and catering companies, to make sure that ingredients being used in the kitchen match up with their expectations"

 

Children's Food Campaign:

"From children’s meals and snacks to processed meats, excessive quantities of salt are lurking in our everyday foods. The food industry is failing to achieve voluntary salt reduction targets, and too many companies are still not using traffic-light colour coded labelling to warn shoppers about high salt levels. That’s why the Children’s Food Campaign is backing Salt Awareness Week’s calls for mandatory labelling and new business levers for change."

 

Faculty of Public Health, Professor Maggie Rae, President:

"The UK Faculty of Public Health (FPH) is a joint faculty of the three Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom (London, Edinburgh and Glasgow). We are a membership organisation for approximately 4,000 public health professionals across the UK and around the world and our role is to improve the health and wellbeing of local communities and national populations. We do this by supporting the training and development of the public health workforce and improving public health policy and practice in partnership with local and national governments in the UK and globally. 

The Faculty supports Salt Awareness Week as a way of highlighting the detrimental impact of excess salt on our health. Evidence shows a strong causal link between high salt intake and hypertension, a powerful risk factor for coronary heart disease and strokes. Hypertension can also cause dementia, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, peripheral vascular disease (diseased arteries in the limbs) and retinal damage. Up to 70% of the salt in our diet comes from processed foods such as bread, breakfast cereal, pizzas, soups, sauces and ready meals. As these foods are estimated to make up over 50% of the average UK diet, there is a clear need for the food industry to continue to reduce the salt content in these products.

Previous public health approaches to salt reduction have achieved impressive results – between 2004 and 2011 a successful national programme resulted in a 15% reduction in population salt intake (1.4g per day), with 33% of people in England aged 19-64 consuming 6g or less in 2014. These reductions were not universal across the UK population, and while the average population consumption decreased significantly, socioeconomic inequalities in salt consumption remained, potentially contributing to inequalities in cardiovascular health.

The Faculty of Public Health supports restrictions on the advertising of high salt content food, and calls on the food industry to address this unnecessary burden on the population’s health."

 

Food Active:

"Food Active is pleased to be supporting this year’s Salt Awareness Week, which we hope will hold industry to account in their role of providing healthier food and drink options for children, young people and families that contain less fat, sugar and salt."

 

The National Obesity Forum, Tam Fry, Chairman:

"The National Obesity Forum strongly supports the " Hide and Seek " campaign. It is iniquitous that the salt reduction programme, so ably begun in the 2000s, was allowed to lapse by successive governments from 2010 onwards. Without question, the Johnson administration must listen to, and act upon, this Week's messages."

 

Real Bread Campaign:

"Real Bread is a great choice as it contributes a lot to a delicious and nutritious meal but very little salt. Keep it healthy by watching your topping or fillings and don’t go overboard with the saltier ones"

 

Royal Society of Public Health:

"We are pleased to be supporting Salt Awareness Week 2020. It has long been known that consuming too much salt is bad for our health; although the salt reduction programme is a step in the right direction, results up to now have been mixed. Now in this era of prevention, we need to see more ambitious reduction targets for the retail and out-of-home sectors. It is not right that salt is hidden in many products, and clearer labelling is another way to incentivise industry to meet salt targets, along with making consumers aware of exactly what is in the food they eat. We must continue to build on the progress we’ve already made if we are to take the prevention of diet-related ill-health seriously."

 

Sustainable Restaurant Association:

"Feeding people well is an essential part of the recipe for a sustainable restaurant. That means offering balanced and healthy menu options to cater for customer needs. The Sustainable Restaurant Association fully supports the aims of Salt Awareness Week and calls on foodservice to act now to further reduce its use of and be fully transparent about the amount of salt it uses."

 

Stroke Association:

"Eating too much salt (sodium chloride) can increase the risk of stroke, so we encourage people to look for ways in which they can reduce their salt intake. If you’re cooking at home you can try using alternative flavourings like herbs and spices. But we recognise how hard it can be to make healthy choices, when many everyday food items, such as bread, cereals and processed meat contain hidden salt. And some food labelling isn’t always clear. Our ever-diversifying trends in dining out and easier home-delivery of our favourite foods also mean we are increasingly eating foods without really knowing how much salt they contain. We are therefore pleased to support Action on Salt’s 2020 campaign, which calls for the food industry to have greater nutritional transparency and do more to help us live longer, healthier lives."