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Action on Salt

Feeding infants salty foods leads to a preference for salty foods in childhood

Published:

Stein LJ, Cowart BJ, Beauchamp GK. The development of salty taste acceptance is related to dietary experience in human infants: a prospective study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2012;94:123–9.


Professor MacGregor, Chairman of CASH (Consensus Action on Salt and Health), says:

“The paper in the AJCN demonstrates that eating salty foods in a child’s infancy can lead to a preference for salty foods in the future.  This shows that a liking for salt is not something we are born with, but something we learn.  It is therefore vitally important that infants are weaned onto foods without salt so that they don’t develop a ‘salt addiction’ which could put them at risk of developing high blood pressure later in life, which leads to premature heart disease and stroke, the commonest causes of death and disability in the UK.”  

Click here to read the full paper

 

 

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