UK adults’ salt intake stagnates above threshold for decade, PHE warns

26 Mar 2020 --- UK adults aged 19 to 64 years consume an average of 8.4 g of salt per day, which is 40 percent higher than the government recommendation of a maximum of 6 g daily. This is according to the latest Public Health England (PHE)-funded trend analysis that found “no statistically significant linear change in estimated daily salt intake over time” between the first assessment after salt reduction work began in 2005/06 and the most recent evaluation in 2018/19. Considering 69 percent of the salt intake estimates were higher than the population target maximum, salt-reduction lobbyists at Action on Salt (AoS) call for both the UK government and the food industry to take action.

The 2018/19 analysis set out to detect a reduction of 7 percent in the mean estimated salt intake compared to the previous analysis from 2014 – equivalent to approximately 0.5 g per day reduction in salt intake. The trend analysis’ results are based on 596 complete 24-hour urine collections from November 2018 to May 2019. Of these, 43 percent (286) were from men and 57 percent (310) were from women.

UK adults are consuming a third more than the maximum recommended amount of salt, the analysis found.In terms of geometric means, there was a statistically significant downward step-change in estimated daily salt intake between 2005/06 and 2008/09 for adults at 8.1 g and 7.5 g per day, respectively. Otherwise, however, the most recent analysis did not demonstrate any other significant step changes between the neighboring survey groups of 2008/09 to 2018/19.

Men and women differed in mean estimated daily intake, reaching daily intake levels of 9.2 g and 7.6 g, respectively. Estimated salt intake was highest in the combined age group of 35 to 49-year-olds at 9 g per day, followed by 19 to 34-year-olds at 8.4 g, then 50 to 64-year-olds at 7.7 g of daily salt intake.

An independent peer review found the analysis’s findings to be overall “positive” but still marked room for improvement in graphical representations, using geometric instead of arithmetic means and performing the regression analysis on the log-transformed scale.

Lacking government response?
An ardent opponent of high salt levels, lobby group AoS assesses the given analysis as both “not surprising” and “disappointing.” While the UK’s current average stagnates at 8 g per day – a third higher than the recommended maximum – AoS sees room for improvement. This is in light of the 5 g maximum suggested by the World Health Organisation and the 3 g maximum recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. However, the peer review noted that a 0.5 g reduction rate is “possibly unrealistic.”

“Salt is the leading cause of raised blood pressure, which, in turn, is the major cause of strokes and heart disease worldwide. According to the Department of Health & Social Care, each one daily reduced gram in population salt intake saves more than 4,000 premature deaths per year in the UK,” the AoS affirms. 

A high-salt diet is not only detrimental to heart health, but also the immune system, according to a recent study conducted at the University of Bonn, Germany. Mice fed a high-salt diet were found to suffer from much more severe bacterial infections. Likewise, human volunteers who consumed an additional 6 g of salt per day – equivalent to two fast-food meals – also showed pronounced immune deficiencies.

Awareness for strengthening the immune system has risen sharply amid the current COVID-19 crisis. Here, AoS holds the food industry alongside the UK government accountable. “During the panic-buying frenzy across many UK supermarkets, food retailers can still play an important role on an on-going basis by trying to stock shelves with healthier ranges where possible,” the group maintains. Once the coronavirus pandemic has eased, AoS urges the government to “enforce stricter and more comprehensive salt reduction targets” and “create a fair and level playing field across the whole sector.”

By Anni Schleicher