We'd like to thank the following charities for their support of Salt Awareness Week 2023:

 

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 is pleased to support Salt Awareness Week. Although reducing salt intake can really improve our health, it can be difficult to do this when we have little control over the amount of salt that is in the food we buy. So, while there has been significant progress over the years, we join the call to urge the food industry to go even further to ditch the salt, to focus on flavour instead and help us all to make healthier choices.” 

BiteBack 2030

"Bite Back 2030 is proud to work alongside organisations like Action on Salt to call out the tactics of big food brands which routinely disguise what's inside some of the nation's favourite products. Big food businesses are manipulating us into thinking their products are healthy, when really, they’re packed with fat, sugar and salt. Last year we decided to play them at their own game and launched 'müd’ — a new snack bar that claimed to be high in fibre, a great source of minerals and low in fat. That was all true, but there's a catch - the fake product was made of 100% plain old mud! It was a lot of fun, but there's a serious point - we want food and drink companies to be honest and transparent about their products!" 

Blood Pressure UK

"Eating too much salt is the single biggest cause of high blood pressure. This can lead to strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, kidney disease and some types of dementia. Cutting down on salt is one of the simplest ways to lower your blood pressure, and will start to make a difference very quickly, even within weeks. It’s more important than ever that your food is healthy and still flavoursome. This is why we are supporting Action on Salt’s National Salt Awareness Week to encourage the public that by learning some simple food swaps, understanding food labels and adding different flavours while cooking like chilli, pepper, ginger, lemon or lime juice, you can slash your salt intake and still eat delicious food. So now is the time to shake the habit."

British Dietetic Association

“The BDA believes strongly in the benefits of a health balanced diet. Too much salt in our diets can lead to problems such as water retention, raised blood pressure, and a higher risk of heart attack, kidney disease and stroke, so it’s worth keeping within safe limits.” 

British Medical Association 

"The BMA supports Salt Awareness Week 2023, a vital awareness campaign highlighting the effect that salt has on our health. Doctors recognise the importance of addressing high levels of salt in day-to-day foods and see on a daily basis the impact it has on patients and our health service. It is clear how preventable conditions such as cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes and strokes are impacted by high salt intake. The food industry must play their part in salt reduction, helping us all to live longer, healthier lives."

Caroline Walker Trust

"The Caroline Walker Trust is pleased to be supporting Salt Awareness Week 2023. The Trust urges food companies to reduce salt levels in everyday foods to make it easier for people to eat less salt. As three quarters of the salt we eat is hidden in processed foods, such as bread, cereal, pizza and soup, food companies play a vital role in helping us all to reduce our salt intake and lead healthier lives."       

Chefs in schools

“Chefs in Schools continues to support the call for greater transparency and discussion 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 and chat with their chefs, kitchen staff and catering companies, to make sure that the ingredients being used in school kitchens align with their expectations.” 

Chest, Heart, Stroke Scotland

“We know that having too much salt in your diet can lead to high blood pressure, which can increase the risk of health conditions including heart disease and stroke.  However, managing salt intake can be challenging when many people may not be aware that many foods contain high levels of salt, including pre-prepared meals, breakfast cereals, sauces and snacks.  

“Chest, Heart & Stroke Scotland is supporting Action on Salt’s campaign calling on food companies to ‘Ditch the Salt’ making it easier for people to enjoy a wide variety of foods without unnecessarily consuming high levels of salt that could be detrimental to their health.” 

Children’s Food Campaign

“We all want children to grow up with a healthy relationship with food. Protecting our children from excess salt intake is a vital part of overall prevention of illnesses including heart disease and high blood pressure. However, parents’ jobs are made much harder when so much salt is lurking in so many of the manufactured and processed foods in shops, takeaways and restaurants. That’s why Children’s Food Campaign supports Salt Awareness Week 2023 and the call on the food industry to ditch the salt.”   

Diabetes UK

“We know eating too much salt can increase the risk of high blood pressure, which in turn increases the risk of heart diseases and stroke. People with diabetes already have an increased risk of these conditions, so it’s incredibly important to help them limit their salt intake. Most of the salt we eat comes from processed foods, so food manufacturers can continue to play an important role in supporting people to reduce their intakes. The Government must go further to make it easier for everyone to eat a balanced diet by implementing their obesity strategy in full, which includes restricting the marketing and promotion of unhealthy products – including those high in salt – without delay. 

Diabetes UK supports Salt Awareness Week 2023 and is backing Action on Salt’s campaign to get the food industry to ditch unnecessary salt in their products.” 

Douglas Twenefour, Head of Care at Diabetes UK

Early start Nutrition

“Early Start Nutrition are delighted to support Salt Awareness Week. Through our work with the early years sector, we recognise the importance of supporting children to establish healthy eating habits. It’s important that children do not eat too much salt as it can give them a taste for salty foods, which can cause serious health conditions in later life. It’s therefore important to make sure the food provided to children is not high in salt. We will continue to support nurseries and childminders to plan their menus to be full of flavour without added salt. Most salt that young children eat is found in processed foods and so we urge food companies to ‘Ditch the Salt’ for the sake of children’s hearts.” 

Faculty for Public Health 

"The Faculty supports Salt Awareness Week 2023 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 Salt Awareness Week 2022. Despite some progress in recent decades through the salt reduction programme, everyday products from sliced bread to soup to sandwiches still contain far too much salt. The food industry are in an ideal position to help us all cut back on salt and help us lead healthier lives, including a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. That’s why its high time the food industry ditched the salt!" 

Heart Research UK

“Too much salt in our diet can lead to high blood pressure, which increases our risk of heart attack, heart failure and stroke. Excess sodium consumption increases the volume of our blood so that it takes up more space in our blood vessels, leading to high blood pressure. It's estimated that in the UK, we consume around 40% more salt than the recommended 6g per day. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to control our salt intake as around 75% of the food we eat contains hidden salt. The food industry plays a big role in influencing the amount of salt we eat. Different brands of similar products contain varying amounts of salt, so look at the label and choose products that contain less salt.

Heart UK

“High blood pressure puts a strain on the heart and can lead to diseases of the heart and blood vessels, including heart attacks and strokes. Having high cholesterol and high blood pressure at the same time makes these problems more likely which is why we’re very happy to support Salt Awareness Week in 2023.”

Jules Payne, Chief Executive of Heart UK

Kidney Research UK

"Eating too much salt is linked with high blood pressure and heart disease, which can damage your kidneys. That’s why we’re supporting Salt Awareness Week 2023. Kidney disease is on the rise and a multiple interventions are urgently needed to improve public health. With the increasing cost of living, diets are potentially worsening as more people turn to lower cost items, which often contain higher levels of salt. Therefore, we are calling on those in the catering and manufacturing industries to find alternative, healthier ways to add flavour to their products – and to provide nutritional information so people can make informed decisions about what they eat."

Alison Railton, Head of Policy and External Affairs at Kidney Research UK 

London Early Years Foundation

"The London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), which is focused on providing high quality, affordable and accessible nursery education and care to all children across London, fully supports Salt Awareness Week. From the work we do at the LEYF Chef Academy, we know only too well that Early Years settings must take action to safeguard children from the risks of eating too much salt which can affect their blood pressure, increasing the risk of illness later in life. Habits learned in childhood tend to carry through to adulthood, and this includes dietary habits." 

Nutrition Scotland

"Nutrition Scotland are proud to support Salt Awareness Week 2023. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Scotland, with poor diet being a major contributing factor. We work across Scotland with a wide-range of communities and organisations to help reduce diet-related negative health outcomes through nutrition education and skills development. An important part of our work is communicating simple healthy eating messages, such as reducing salt intake, alongside practical support that can help to improve health. Despite the wide-ranging health promotion and prevention work going on across the country, we are limited by our current food environment which creates a propensity for pre-packaged and processed food consumption. These foods are high in salt, widely available and often more affordable options. The food industry needs to take responsibility and work to reduce the salt content of packaged and prepared foods, to help support consumers to live longer, healthier lives." 

Suzanne Fletcher, RNutr (Public Health), Director of Nutrition Scotland

Obesity Health Alliance

"People make countless decisions about what to eat and drink every day. The majority of these decisions are unconscious and are heavily influenced by external factors, such as the kind of foods that are readily available.  This is never truer than for salt, which is hidden in the majority of our everyday foods, taking away people’s choice about how much they wish to eat.  The OHA joins Action on Salt in calling for food companies to Ditch the Salt for our health." 

Polycystic Kidney Disease

“We urge food companies to reduce salt in their products for everyone's health and especially for those with polycystic kidney disease (PKD). Most people and some children with PKD have naturally high blood pressure from an early age. High salt levels in food can raise blood pressure and lead to heart disease and stroke - the cause of death in most patients with kidney disease. Even a slight reduction in salt could lower the risk of kidney problems and save lives by preventing premature deaths. In addition, lowering salt may also help slow kidney function decline in PKD patients, so reducing salt can bring extra benefits. Unfortunately, many people don't know the amount of salt in the regular foods they buy because they lack time to read labels or find them too small and difficult to read. It's time that food companies take the initiative, ditch the salt and help improve the lives of millions worldwide.” 

Real Bread Campaign

“Though salt isn’t technically necessary in breadmaking, in very small amounts it enhances flavour and performs a number of other useful functions,  Sadly, some bakers and industrial loaf manufacturers continue to use more than is recommended as a healthy maximum. The Real Bread Campaign encourages every loafmonger to check their salt levels and dial them down if they’re high.”  

Chris Young, Real Bread Campaign Coordinator 

World Cancer Research Fund

“Remarkably, around 75% of the salt we eat comes from processed foods, such as bread, breakfast cereals, processed meat, and sauces. Some foods don’t have to taste salty to be salty. Certain processed foods can not only be high in added salt but also high in fat and calories – this can contribute to weight gain, and we know that living with overweight or obesity increases our risk of at least 12 different types of cancer.   

“Checking food labels is a way that can help reduce the amount of salt you eat. Often, there might be two or more versions of the same product, yet one has a lower level of salt. Another way to reduce your intake is to make your meals from scratch – we have over 300 recipes that contain no added salt and cater for different tastes and preferences”. 

Matt Lambert, Health Information and Promotion Manager at World Cancer Research Fund

World Hypertension League

"Excessive dietary salt consumption is a major cause of increased blood pressure, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.  Hence, reducing dietary salt intake is a global priority of the World Health Assembly and World Health Organization.  The World Hypertension League (WHL) plays a leadership role in advocating for the reduction in dietary salt consumption, updating the scientific evidence associating dietary salt intake with the occurrence of disease, and in developing standards for the conduct of research on dietary sodium intake. The WHL strongly supports the 2023 “Ditch the Salt’ Salt Awareness Week, May 15-21, and the World Health Organization SHAKE program that aims to create healthy eating environments that support adults consuming less than 5 g salt/day."