We'd like to thank the following charities for their support of Salt Awareness Week 2024:

Adopt a School Trust

“Reducing salt intake can really improve our health, and at the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts’ Adopt a School Trust, we work with chefs to support children and families to learn basic cooking skills, as cooking from scratch is the best way to be in control of how much salt we eat. Unfortunately, however, we have very little control over how much salt has already been put in the food we buy, so the food industry must play their part and help us all to make healthier choices by reducing the amount of salt they add to our food.” 

 

Association of Directors of Public Health

“Too much of the food we are sold has unnecessarily high levels of salt in, putting increasing numbers of people at risk of developing potentially fatal heart conditions. 

“Healthy food is around three times more expensive than unhealthy options and so, to improve the choice of foods on offer to us, we are calling on the Government to make the reformulation of products to reduce sugar, saturated fat, and salt mandatory, and to regulate how products high in salt are marketed, particularly to children and young people. 

“Unless healthier alternatives become more accessible and affordable, the next generation will grow up to develop a whole host of largely preventable illnesses. Living with these conditions will not only impact them and their families and potentially cut short their lives but will also stop them from working and contributing to society and put even more pressure on our already stretched health and social care services.”   

 

Bite Back

"Bite Back 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. This year, we carried out new research in partnership with Action on Salt, looking at the portfolios of the biggest global food companies operating in the UK. It identifies that 78% of products that have child appealing packaging are unhealthy. 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, which not only affects adults but also poses a growing concern for children's health. It is therefore vital to prevent high blood pressure from a young age and not assume that it only affects the older generation. High blood pressure can lead to various health issues, including strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, kidney disease, and some types of dementia. Cutting down on salt is one of the simplest ways to lower blood pressure, and the positive effects can be seen quickly, even within weeks. It’s more crucial than ever to ensure that your food is healthy yet flavoursome. That's why we are supporting Action on Salt’s National Salt Awareness Week to empower the public with simple food swaps, decoding food labels, and enhancing flavours with alternatives like chilli, pepper, ginger, lemon, or lime juice. Let's shake the habit now for a healthier future." 

 

British and Irish Hypertension League

"The British and Irish Hypertension Society (BIHS) support the work of Action of Salt. Excessive salt leads to hypertension, one of the leading causes of death and disability world wide. The BIHS is committed to improving outcomes of individuals with hypertension. BIHS recognises that all sectors of the food industry, together with government legislation as necessary, need to cut the salt content of prepared foods to allow for improved individual and public health outcomes related to hypertension."

 

British Heart Foundation

“Eating too much salt as a child can increase the risk of developing high blood pressure as an adult, and this increases the chance of having a future heart attack or stroke. However, as much as 85 per cent of the salt we eat is already in the food we buy.  

“There is a clear case for helping families eat more healthily by taking salt out of food before it ends up on our plates, at home and when eating out. If the food industry will not lower the salt content of their products, the Government will need to step in to protect the health of future generations.” 

 

Chefs in Schools

“Chefs in Schools will always support the call for greater transparency and discussion around salt in food. In schools, we champion cooking food from scratch, using fresh and 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 school chefs, kitchen teams and catering companies, to ensure 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 to shine the spotlight on salt and ask the food industry to make 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 our children to be able to access healthy food and grow up to be healthy adults, but this is really hard when up to 85% of the salt we eat is already in our food when we buy it. So many of us are eating too much salt and getting sicker as a result, and with rising blood pressure being seen in children too, we need to act on this now. 

This is why we are proud to support Salt Awareness Week 2024 to shine a spotlight on salt, and why we’re working alongside Action on Salt on our Recipe for Change campaign calling for industry levies to reduce salt and sugar in our food."

 

Early Start Nutrition

“Early Start Nutrition are delighted to support Salt Awareness Week 2024. Working with early years settings and families, we recognise the importance of supporting children to establish their taste preferences from an early age. The introduction of homemade foods from simple ingredients, with no added salt, is a great way to get children used to family foods. The food industry and out of home sector play a huge role in supporting families to reduce their salt intake, and so we urge them to consider the impact that advertising processed foods has on the long term health and well-being outcomes of children.” 

 

Eating Better

"Salt reduction is a key part of a healthy and sustainable diet, and Eating Better is proud to support alliance member Action on Salt during Salt Awareness week. 

Healthier food environments can reduce the amount of foods high in salt which lead to enhanced health risks. In Eating Better's resource, 'It's time to act on processed meat', we outline how processed meat often contains high levels of salt; the related health risks include increased risk of high blood pressure, stroke, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality. 

Major retailers and food service operators could aim to reduce the sales of processed meat, and any support to sales through advertising and marketing. This would also help them meet climate targets. Including processed meat in legislation to restrict the promotion of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS), to create a level playing field for business." 

 

Food Active

"Food Active are delighted to be supporting Salt Awareness Week 2024. Although population salt intake has gradually decreased over the past decade, we are still consuming over the UK recommended daily amount. Even a small reduction in our daily salt intake can reduce our blood pressure and positively impact our overall health. Through reformulation and promotion of healthier products, the food industry, including the out of home food sector, can help us all cut back on salt and lead healthier lives. It’s high time the food industry ditched the salt!"  

 

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." 

 

Heart Research UK

"While a small amount of salt is essential for good health, overconsumption is linked with adverse health outcomes. When you consume too much salt, the kidneys struggle to excrete it, and this can lead to water retention and raised blood pressure (hypertension). High blood pressure is a risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke. To reduce the risks associated with excessive salt consumption, it is advisable to check the food labels and limit your intake of highly processed and packaged food items, which often contain high levels of salt. Cooking from scratch, without adding salt, and including plenty of wholegrains, fresh fruits and vegetables can help to reduce salt intake and promote better heart health. Recognising the dangers of excessive salt consumption is crucial for maintaining a healthy heart. We proudly support Salt Awareness Week 2024, aiming to raise awareness and empower individuals to make healthier lifestyle choices for a happier, healthier future."

 

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 2024. Kidney disease is on the rise and 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." 

 

London Early Years Foundation

"We know that the first 1,000 days of a child’s life are crucial for a child’s development. That’s why LEYF is committed to giving all children the very best start to life. We believe no salt should be added to the food that is prepared for children as too much salt in a child’s diet can cause health problems in later life. 

Children under the age of four should have no more than 2g of salt in their daily diet. In context, that’s roughly 1/3 of a teaspoon! 

As adults, we believe food to be bland without added salt and are quick to forget that children have brand new taste buds that appreciate the subtle natural flavours of food. 

Many food items and snacks that market themselves as ’child friendly’ are ultra-processed and can contain higher than recommended levels of fat, sugar and salt. Where possible, our in-house chefs at LEYF cook from scratch in order to help reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes in later life. LEYF’s very own Early Years Chef Academy teaches chefs in nurseries how to reduce salt when purchasing and preparing food and also gives them the confidence to share their knowledge with both staff and families within the community."

 

Nutrition Scotland

"Nutrition Scotland are proud to support Salt Awareness Week 2024. 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." 

 

Obesity Health Alliance

"Unhealthy food options are always in the spotlight.  The choices that we make are heavily influenced by not just what’s available to us on supermarket shelves and on the menu, but by the never-ending stream of adverts, the constant prompts and special offers. 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 is pleased to help Action on Salt shine the spotlight on salt.“ 

 

Real Bread Campaign

"While salt levels in many industrial dough products - such as loaves, wraps, bagels, rolls and pizza bases - have come down from the ridiculously high levels that some manufacturers had allowed them to reach, there is still a way to go for some. We support the work of Action on Salt and urge all professional and home bakers, as well as industrial dough fabricators, to ensure that their salt levels don’t exceed the government’s target maximum."

 

Royal Society of Public Health

“It’s vital to raise public awareness about the harms of high salt intake. Salt plays a key role in driving ill health and contributes to preventable conditions such as cardiovascular disease, strokes, and type II diabetes. In fact, reducing our salt intake by just 1g a day would save over 4,000 lives and reduce pressure on the NHS. 

Consumers are limited by our current food environment. In the context of the cost-of-living crisis and other socio-economic pressures this means that food that is high in salt is often more affordable and easily available. We need to build a food system where the opposite is the case. 

We can also tackle the problem at its source before it reaches our plates. Food companies must play their part and reduce the levels of salt in everyday products.” 

  

School Food Matters

"The School Food Matters Healthy Zones programme has been working with schools across London to transform their school food environment, putting children’s health first. Reducing the amount of salt in school food and children’s packed lunches is one of the things we’ve been focused on and something we want to spotlight this Salt Awareness Week. 

We know that high salt intake among children can lead to high blood pressure and a series of negative health outcomes in the future. Making simple food swaps can help avert these issues. We’ve convinced schools to remove foods high in salt, like pizzas from the canteen at break time or during clubs, and to instead replace them with fruits and other healthier snacks. 

School food standards already restrict the use of salt in school meals - just one of the reasons why school food is the best choice for children. But for families that do opt for a packed lunch, we offer sessions to support them in creating a healthier offering that swaps out crisps and processed foods, which are high in salt, for things like tasty and low-cost homemade wraps, salads and veggies. Find out more here. "

 

Stroke Association

"Over 88,000 people survive a stroke every year in the UK, but surviving a  stroke is just the start of a long and traumatic battle to finding their way back to life.  A stroke can leave survivors unable to move, see, speak, or even swallow. 

“High blood pressure is the single biggest risk factor for stroke and plays a part in about half of all strokes. A diet high in salt can cause high blood pressure, therefore reducing the amount of salt we eat can help to lower blood pressure and reduce our risk of stroke. 

“We’d encourage people to take control of their diet by limiting food with unknown salt levels and checking how much salt is in ready meals and store cupboard ingredients. We can also add less salt to our home-cooked food, using alternative flavours like herbs and spices instead. If you can’t avoid using salt in your food, switch to a reduced-sodium salt such as LoSalt®, which contains two thirds less sodium than regular table, sea and rock salts. 

“We’re proud to support Action on Salt’s 2024 campaign which aims to shine the spotlight on salt and calls for the food industry to do more to reduce the amount of salt they add to our food, and encouraging the public to make small changes to their eating, cooking and purchasing habits.” 

If you take some types of post-stroke medication that affect potassium levels, LoSalt® and other reduced sodium salt alternatives may not be suitable for you. Check with your GP for advice. 

 

The Sustainable Restaurant Association

“We know there is a big overlap between what constitutes a healthy diet and what makes a sustainable one. The hospitality industry has an incredible amount of influence over how people eat, and we believe that restaurants have a social responsibility to provide their customers with food options that are healthy, nourishing and sustainable, as well as delicious; that’s why ‘Feed People Well’ is one of the 10 key focus areas in our sustainability accreditation for this sector, the Food Made Good Standard. Salt reduction is just one part of this. 

“For a long time, adding more salt than necessary has been a crutch on which the industrialised food system has leant – a lazy way to make food products more appealing. With public health an increasingly urgent issue, we’re ready to see more chefs and manufacturers season with care and restraint, with a focus on drawing out and celebrating the natural flavours of quality ingredients rather than masking them with too much salt.”  

 

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”. 

 

The World Hypertension League

"The World Hypertension League (WHL, https://www.whleague.org), with over 80 member organisations from around the globe, is dedicated to population prevention and control of hypertension. Reducing high dietary sodium is cost saving and has a major impact on the prevalence and control of hypertension and on cardiovascular disease. Reducing dietary sodium is one of a few interventions to prevent non communicable diseases named ‘best buys’ by the World Health Organisation. 

Supporting interventions to reduce dietary sodium is a high priority of the WHL. WHL activities have included forming the TRUE consortium of international scientific organisations to create recommendations for human research on dietary sodium as well as the Science of Salt (a regular review of quality evidence on the impact of dietary sodium on health outcomes and on best practices for reducing dietary sodium). More recently the WHL led the development of a fact sheet and call to action on dietary salt that was supported by over 75 health and scientific organizations and a call to stop funding, conducting and publishing research on dietary sodium using methodology shown to produce spurious associations between dietary sodium and health outcomes. 

The WHL newsletter regularly has features on dietary sodium and the WHL annually recognises organisations and individuals that have shown excellence in efforts to reduce dietary sodium. Salt Awareness Week is an opportunity to focus on high dietary sodium as a major reversible health risk where much more substantive effort is required."