Department of Health

Website of the Department of Health

Please note that this website has a UK government access keys system.

Salt

  • Last modified date:
    2 March 2007

High salt intakes are a major contributor to high blood pressure which increases your risk of heart disease and stroke. Most people eat too much salt. At present the average consumption in the UK is 10g per day, far higher than the recommended maximum of 6g per day. Around 75% of salt in the diet is from processed foods.

The Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency are working together with the food industry to lower the levels of salt in food. To help guide the food industry as to the type of foods in which reductions would be most beneficial, and the level of reductions that are needed to help reduce consumers' intakes, the FSA developed proposals for voluntary targets for salt levels in a wide range of food categories (85 categories in total). These targets were the subject of a public consultation in August 2005.

It has been intentional that the salt reduction targets are set at challenging levels that will have a real impact on consumers' intakes, while also taking into account food safety and technical issues.  In many areas the targets are building upon a history of voluntary reductions already made by manufacturers and retailers.  Industry reponse has been positive and much progress has been made with many commitments received.

The Department and the FSA are encouraged by the steady progress on voluntary salt reductions by the industry to date, for example:

  • major retailers, including ASDA, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose have made good progress with salt reduction across a wide range of products
  • the Association of Cereal Food Manufacturers has reduced the levels of salt in breakfast cereals by 33% since 1998
  • the Federation of Bakers has cut the amount in bread by up to 30%
  • Kraft has lowered the salt in its cheese spreads and snack products by around a third
  • members of the Food and Drink Federation have sought to reduce the salt in soups and sauces by 30%

The targets will be reviewed in 2008, to ensure that progress continues to be made towards achieving the 6g maximum recommended salt intake.

Follow the links below to see the list of plans, a summary of progress to date and next steps in this work. Plans have been submitted from both industry and NGOs.  The Food Standards Agency is also running a public health campaign to reduce salt consumption in the UK. 

Industry commitments

Details of individual plans submitted by NGOs

Plans submitted to Melanie Johnson, Public Health Minister, in March 2004.

Additional links

Related Links

Access keys