Stricter restrictions on salt in packaged food could save thousands of lives, research shows

Introducing stricter restrictions on sodium content for packaged foods could prevent thousands of deaths and save billions of dollars in healthcare spending in Australia alone, a new study has found.

Mandating strict sodium content targets in Australian packaged foods, in line with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, could prevent around 40,000 cardiovascular events and up to 3,000 deaths over a decade, according to new research published on Thursday in the The Lancet Public Health.

It would also prevent approximately 32,000 new cases of kidney disease and save approximately $3.25 billion in health care costs over the lifetime of the population.

Led by researchers from the George Institute for Global Health in collaboration with UNSW Sydney, Griffith University and Johns Hopkins University, the study is the first to project the long-term effects of setting mandatory sodium reduction targets for processed foods, following Australian Government results compare current voluntary benchmarks with the higher targets recommended by WHO.

Excessive sodium intake is a leading cause of death worldwide and contributes to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). In Australia, average daily consumption is almost double what is recommended by the WHO, with most of it coming from salt hidden in foods such as meats, bread and bakery products, cereals and grain products and dairy products.

Study author Professor Jason Wu, head of nutritional sciences at the George Institute and professor at UNSW Medicine & Health’s School of Population Health, said the analysis showed that setting sodium reduction levels higher than current Australian targets, and making them mandatory, would can lead to significant health benefits and reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease on the healthcare system.

“Our research predicted a massive drop in the number of cases and deaths from heart attacks, strokes and other heart diseases, as well as kidney disease, within just a decade if the WHO reduction targets were made mandatory. After ten years, we have also shown that this reduction in the burden of disease could yield billions of dollars in savings on health care costs associated with these diseases,” he said.

The WHO recommends reformulating food products to reduce sodium content as part of its goal to reduce sodium consumption by 30% globally by 2025. This is also part of the Australian Federal Government’s Healthy Food Partnership (HFP), launched in 2015, which is asking the WHO food industry to reduce sodium levels in 27 food categories, among other measures to support healthy eating.

“The Australian sodium reformulation targets not only remain voluntary, but are also less stringent than the WHO sodium benchmarks. We see the industry consistently failing to meet voluntary targets and this weak regulatory system means Australia is missing an opportunity to protect its people from the harmful effects of eating. too much sodium,” added Prof. Wu.

“Other countries like Brazil, Mexico, Spain and Malaysia have adopted mandatory sodium limits, so it can be done. We have now shown that if Australia were to adopt and mandate these more effective benchmarks, it could ease the pressure on our health. healthcare system for the coming decades.”

Dr. Leopold Aminde from Griffith University’s School of Medicine and Dentistry said the research is an example of why Australia must now move away from a voluntary approach to mandating sodium thresholds for packaged foods.

“Reducing excess sodium consumption has the potential to prevent thousands of deaths and cases of cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease, coupled with the additional economic cost-saving benefits to the Australian healthcare system,” said Dr. Aminde.

“Our analysis shows that these benefits could be three to four times greater if stringent sodium thresholds, as proposed by WHO, are mandated compared to existing voluntary targets.”

Dr. Luz Maria De Regil, Head of the Multisectoral Actions in Food Systems Unit, Division of Nutrition and Food Safety at WHO, said: “With only voluntary measures in place to reduce sodium in the food supply, Australia may not be able to supply enough sodium to all of its population. protection against heart attack, stroke and other health problems.

“WHO is calling on all countries to implement our ‘best buy’ interventions for sodium reduction, and on governments to require manufacturers to implement the WHO benchmarks for sodium content in food.”