Too many Canadians dying for salt

Others were just as salty, but they did something about it. Japan decided in the 1950s that it had a problem with salt intake. Finland made the same decision in the 1970s, and the United Kingdom got serious early in this decade. All have managed to reduce the consumption of salt. But Canada -- though it has a two-year-old Sodium Working Group, chaired by Health Canada -- has yet to truly tackle the problem. The working group needs to get to work.

It may be that Canadians' patience for another public-health campaign is limited. There have been smoking, trans-fat, exercise and obesity campaigns, among others. Public-health fatigue may be setting in. But there's a strong argument for paying attention to salt.

Excessive salt intake is the biggest cause of high blood pressure and high blood pressure is the world's leading cause of death and the second-biggest cause of disability, after malnutrition in children. The higher the blood pressure, the greater the chance of dying young from stroke or coronary heart disease.

"The diversity and strength of the evidence is much greater than other lifestyle factors, for example, overweight, low consumption of fruit and vegetables and lack of physical exercise," an article in the Journal of Human Hypertension reported last year... Fifty years ago, Japan took action on salt after finding that its high death rates from stroke were directly related to salt consumption. The successful campaign that followed cut death rates from stroke by 80 per cent. At a time when western influence was becoming apparent ... blood pressure did not rise, because salt intake was falling.

Finland has cut its salt intake by 30 per cent since the 1970s, partly by working with the food industry to develop reduced-salt products; the salt reductions helped cut death rates from stroke and coronary heart disease by 80 per cent, and life expectancy increased five to six years.

Britain found that 80 per cent of salt was added by industry -- restaurants and makers of processed food -- and so it set voluntary salt-reduction targets for 80 categories of food in grocery stores. The approach was gradual enough that people didn't notice the change in taste. Salt has since been cut in most groceries by 20 to 30 per cent. Traffic-light labelling -- red for high-salt, green for low-salt -- drives the point home to consumers.

On average, Canadians consume 3,092 milligrams of salt a day, though the daily maximum recommended by Health Canada is 2,300. That means a 25 per cent cut in salt intake is required. The problem is too big, and too embedded in too many foods, for consumers to solve on their own; governments, working with health experts and industry representatives, should look closely at the British model. Canadians should not be dying for salt.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 2, 2009 A10