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Journalism of Courage
What if your food item came with a red triangle danger sign, indicating it is high in salt? Salt warnings such as this on labels of foods you buy at a supermarket or on restaurant menus can be an effective way of cutting daily salt intake, shows a UK study. The impact of these salt warnings on consumer behaviour was on the same lines as those seen with nutrient warnings and added-sugar warnings.
The food regulator in India is considering different types of front-of-pack labels to reduce consumption of ultra-processed foods with high salt, sugar and fat content.
While the participants were shown four different types of warning labels — red triangle, black triangle, red octagon and black octagon, all claiming to be high in salt — the researchers concluded that all four labels resulted in significantly less salty items being ordered. Fewer labelled items were selected by the consumers as compared to the control group that received the normal restaurant menu. The red octagon label resulted in the least number of labelled items being selected by consumers.
On average, the researchers noted that there was a 0.26 g or 7.4 per cent reduction in salt consumption per restaurant meal. There was also a 0.08 g or 8.5 per cent reduction in salt consumption per packaged food item purchased at the supermarket.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends keeping the daily sodium intake below 2 g a day — this translates to about 5 g or just one whole teaspoon of salt a day. With nearly 1.9 million deaths a year attributable to high sodium intake, the WHO has asked countries to work towards reducing sodium consumption by 30 per cent by 2030.
While sodium is not bad for your body — in fact, a small amount is needed for it to function properly — excess sodium consumption is linked to an increased risk of blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes. A new set of guidelines by the WHO, released earlier this year, suggests using little to no salt on the table as one of the ways of cutting sodium intake. Importantly, it suggests partially replacing table salt with low sodium salt substitutes.
Low sodium salts — sometimes referred to as K-salts — are those that replace the sodium in the table salt (sodium chloride) with potassium. Other compounds such as magnesium may also be used. These salts are essentially made to reduce sodium intake, especially in people who already have hypertension or are at an increased risk of it.
The added benefit is that they also increase potassium consumption, which is known to reduce blood pressure, even if consumed otherwise. Most of the potassium that we consume — other than specialised salts — comes from foods such as beans, peas, nuts, vegetables such as spinach and cabbage, and fruits such as bananas and papaya.
