Recent Press Releases
CASH welcomes the news that salt intake continues to fall: Over 6,000 lives a year have been saved so far
Graham MacGregor, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Chairman of Consensus Action on Salt and Health ( CASH ) comments on today's announcement that the average UK salt intake has fallen to 8.6 g per day:
This is the most important news that we have heard about health and eating for a long time. Since the start of the salt reduction policy, salt intake has fallen in adults in the UK from 9.5g to 8.6 g per day, i.e. an approximate 10% reduction in the national salt intake. This represents a massive 19,700 tonnes of salt per year that has been removed from the UK diet".
Click here for the full press release
Vegetarian Sausages and Burgers are Not a Lower Salt Option
• People seeking ‘healthier' meat-free alternatives need to choose carefully
Research carried out by Consensus Action on Salt and Health ahead of National Vegetarian Week (May 2008) has found that vegetarian sausages and burgers can be just as salty as their meat equivalent products and some are even higher in salt. The saltiest burger in the survey contained more salt than three packets of crisps and the saltiest sausage contained more salt than five packets of crisps.
Salt intake is related to soft drink consumption in children and adolescents - a link to obesity?
Children who eat less salt drink fewer sugar-sweetened soft drinks and may significantly lower their risks for obesity, elevated blood pressure and later-in-life heart attack and stroke, researchers reported in the print and online issue of Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Previous studies have shown that dietary salt intake increases fluid consumption in adults. But researchers at St. George's University of London , England , are the first to examine whether the same is true in children.
“If children aged 4 to 18 years cut their salt intake by half (i.e., an average reduction of 3 grams a day), there would be a decrease of approximately two sugar-sweetened soft drinks per week per child, so each child would decrease calorie intake by almost 250 kcal per week,” said Dr. He, one of the authors. “Not only would reducing salt intake lower blood pressure in children, but it could also play a role in helping to reduce obesity.”
Click here to access Dr Myron Weinberger's editorial regarding this paper
Click here for the media coverage of this research