Restaurants salting us to death

The Australian Division of World Action on Salt and Health (AWASH) is calling for a major reduction in the salt content of processed and restaurant foods, following a recent report from the American Medical Association (AMA).

"In the past, people weren't fully cognisant of the fact that most of the salt was coming from restaurant and packaged foods," said Dr Stephen Havas, an author of the AMA report.

"The message we had been giving to the public — don't use salt at the table, don't use salt when you're cooking — was advice of very limited value, since 80% of people's salt was coming from restaurants and processed foods."

Chair of AWASH, Dr Bruce Neal, welcomed the AMA report, which also highlights the substantial public health gains that can be achieved from reductions in salt intake.

"There is clear evidence that salt is a major cause of high blood pressure, translating into greatly increased risks of heart attacks and stroke," he said.

A World Health Organization (WHO) report released in April 2007 highlighted the strong scientific evidence for the damage caused by eating too much salt. The report called for all countries to urgently adopt national approaches to reduce the salt content of foods.

"Not nearly enough is being done to reduce salt in people's diets and Australians are consuming far too much. Most are eating well above the 6 grams per day recommended by the Heart Foundation of Australia," said Neal.

"A reduction to 6 grams a day would prevent about one fifth of all strokes and heart attacks in Australia each year."

AWASH aims to work with the Australian food industry to achieve a 25 % reduction in the salt content of processed food over the next five years.