Reducing the population's sodium intake: the UK Food Standards Agency's salt reduction programme
Open accessAbstract
Objective: To describe the UK Food Standards Agency's (FSA) salt reduction programme undertaken between 2003 and 2010 and to discuss its effectiveness. Design: Relevant scientific papers, campaign materials and evaluations and consultation responses to the FSA's salt reduction programme were used. Setting: Adult salt intakes, monitored using urinary Na data collected from UK-wide surveys, indicate a statistically significant reduction in the population's average salt intake from 9·5 g/d in 2000–2001 to 8·6 g/d in 2008, which is likely to have health benefits. Subjects: Reducing salt intake will have an impact on blood pressure; an estimated 6 % of deaths from CHD in the UK can be avoided if the number of people with high blood pressure is reduced by 50 %. Results: Salt levels in food, monitored using commercial label data and information collected through an industry self-reporting framework, indicated that substantial reductions of up to 70 % in some foods had been achieved. The FSA's consumer campaign evaluation showed increased awareness of the benefits of reducing salt intake on health, with 43 % of adults in 2009 claiming to have made a special effort to reduce salt in their diet compared with 34 % of adults in 2004, before the campaign commenced. Conclusions: The UK's salt reduction programme successfully reduced the average salt intake of the population and increased consumers’ awareness. Significant challenges remain in achieving the population average salt intake of 6 g/d recommended by the UK's Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition. However, the UK has demonstrated the success of its programme and this approach is now being implemented elsewhere in the world.
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The reference distribution for sodium consumption was selected based on observed consumption levels associated with lowest blood pressure in ecologic studies and randomized trials and with lowest disease risk in meta-analyses of prospective cohort studies.
“This distribution was selected based on the observed consumption levels associated with lowest BP in ecologic studies and in randomized trials and with lowest disease risk in meta-analyses of prospective cohort studies.”
From Global Sodium Consumption and Death from Cardiovascular Causes (2014) · cites this paper as [36]
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- Authors
- Wyness, L. A., Butriss, J. L., & Stanner, S. A.
- Affiliations
- British Nutrition Foundation (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Wyness, Laura A
- Stanner, Sara A
- ORCID
- Wyness, Laura A
- Venue
- Public Health Nutrition
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2011-06-23
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 254-261
- ISSN
- 1368-9800 (ISSN-L)
- 1475-2727
- OpenAlex
- W2068459009
- Cited by
- 275
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 34 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 24 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 22 · 2012: 13
- FWCI
- 18.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Public Health Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Queen Margaret University Publications Repository (Queen Margaret University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Sodium Intake and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Blood Pressure and Hypertension Studies
- Keywords
- sodium intake, salt reduction policy, urinary sodium, blood pressure, cardiovascular disease prevention, consumer awareness, salt reduction targets
- MeSH terms
- Awareness, Blood Pressure, Diet, Sodium-Restricted, Food Analysis, United Kingdom, Humans, Legislation, Food, Public Health, Sodium, Program Evaluation, Sodium Chloride, Dietary
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