Massive efforts needed to reduce salt intake and protect lives – WHO

­by PRIYAN DE SILVA

The Global report on sodium intake reduction released by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that the world is off-track to achieve its global target of reducing sodium intake by 30 percent by 2025.

Sodium, an essential nutrient, increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and premature death when eaten in excess. The main source of sodium is table salt (sodium chloride), but it is also contained in other condiments such as sodium glutamate. The report shows that only five percent of WHO member states are protected by mandatory and comprehensive sodium reduction policies and 73 percent of WHO member states lack a full range of implementation of such policies.

Implementing highly cost-effective sodium reduction policies could save an estimated 7 million lives globally by 2030. It is an important component of action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of reducing deaths from non-communicable diseases. But today, only nine countries (Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Uruguay) have a comprehensive package of recommended policies to reduce sodium intake, the report states.

Sri Lanka is among the next 43 countries that have adopted mandatory measures to reduce sodium in the food supply or encourage consumers to make healthier food choices, including mandatory declaration of sodium on all pre-packaged food.

The largest number of diet-related deaths, an estimated 1.89 million each year, is associated with excessive intake of sodium, a well-established cause of raised blood pressure and increased risk of cardiovascular disease while more evidence is emerging documenting links between high sodium intake and increased risk of other health conditions such as gastric cancer, obesity, osteoporosis and kidney disease.

The global average sodium intake is estimated to be 4310 mg/day (10.78g of salt per day), which far exceeds the physiological requirement and is more than double the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendation of <2000 mg of sodium (equivalent to <5 g of salt) per day in adults.

WHO calls on member states to implement sodium intake reduction policies without delay and to mitigate the harmful effects of excessive salt consumption. WHO also calls on food manufacturers to set ambitious sodium reduction targets in their products.