New York leads the way on food industry salt reduction

12th January 2010, 9:34am

The UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) has welcomed voluntary salt targets published by the New York City Health Department.

The targets are part of the National Salt Reduction Initiative in the US. The programme aims to help guide the US food industry on what reductions are needed in order to cut people's salt intakes.

As in the UK, US consumers eat too much salt. A high intake of salt is linked to an increased risk of high blood pressure, which in turn can increase the chances of suffering from heart disease and stroke.

The US salt reduction work is voluntary and New York City has acknowledged that "…it is modelled after a successful initiative developed in the United Kingdom" and cites the FSA's salt reduction successes to show how it can work.

In a statement, the FSA said: "The Agency very much hopes that the US sees similar success with its initiative and we look forward to the publication of its final targets in due course, following this consultation."

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