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Voluntary reformulation fail? Salt content in British food on the rise

The increase in salt levels is seen as a major setback to the progress made prior to 2010 when the salt reduction program was under the auspices of the Food Standards Agency (FSA).  

Following 2010 the UK coalition government transferred responsibility for nutrition from the FSA to the Department of Health which, in turn, handed the food industry the task of policing itself under an agreement called The Responsibility Deal.

Professor Graham MacGregor, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Queen Mary University of London and Chairman of CASH, said: ”Unsurprisingly this (the Responsibility Deal) has failed and has resulted in many thousands of unnecessary deaths from strokes and heart disease.”    

CASH is calling for the UK government to allow an independent agency to set regulated targets for salt, saturated fat and sugar, and a forceful, transparent monitoring system.

The saltiest culprits

Nearly half (47%) of the soups surveyed contained the same amount of salt (or more) per serving than two slices of Domino’s Cheese & Tomato Pizza. The saltiest soup culprit was Baxters’ Vegetarian Italian Tomato & Basil with 3.5 g salt per 400 g serving which contained more salt than a McDonald’s Big Mac and large fries.

 

You can read the full article HERE

 

Food Labelling Services comments:

Under the Food Information for Consumers regulation, it is now mandatory to declare salt rather than sodium. This makes the salt in the food much more visible to consumers, and consumers can choose less salty options. For further advice on how to declare salt, please do not hesitate to contact us.