A salt problem we can’t shake off

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/05/2024 (725 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On the TV cooking show, a chef lets grains of sea salt drift like snow from between her fingers to dust the slab of marbled Angus beef on her butcher-block cutting board.

A roadside billboard shows bagels fresh out of the oven, encrusted with crystals of kosher salt that glisten like diamonds. You can almost smell the bread, imagine the steam emerging when you pull it apart, the salt gems melting sharply on your tongue.

At the liquor store, a poster shows a patio scene; your eyes are drawn to the refreshing-looking margarita with a twist of lime, the iced glass rimmed with coarse salt.

Sodium chloride is a food porn star in North America, ubiquitous in our culture and cuisine.

Go to any casual eatery and it’s in the trinity of condiments right next to your plate: salt, pepper, ketchup.

Salt comes in styles that appeal to many tastes, from the table salt in a plastic shaker that gets passed around with the corn on the cob at a family barbecue, to the fine pyramid-shaped flakes of Maldon gourmet smoked sea salt you might sprinkle on your cedar-planked salmon fillets.

Sodium is necessary to keep your body functioning properly, and it adds zing to foods and enhances flavours.

It’s also killing us.

Because we’re eating far too much of it, and our collective blood pressure is spiking.

Roughly one in four Canadians aged 20 and over has hypertension, which can trigger heart attacks, strokes and death.

Many of us have it and don’t know it.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says approximately 1.89 million people — more than double the population of Winnipeg — die annually from health problems related to excessive sodium intake.

Many of the processed foods we love — chips and cheezies, prepared chicken wings and burgers, sausages, sauces and condiments, ready-to-heat appetizers, broths, bread and cereal contain so much salt it might as well be arsenic.

I did a double-take at Costco recently when I saw packages of instant noodles — a quick, cheap and easy comfort food — that contained a whopping 1,760 milligrams of sodium per bowl, or 77 per cent of the recommended daily intake of 2,300 mg.

And even if you’re vigilant about nutrition labels, it’s easy for sodium to slip through, in restaurant meals, cheeses, preserved meats and shellfish, for example.

The WHO published an in-depth report on the dangers of sodium in 2023, accompanied by a news release with a headline that was hard to ignore: “Massive efforts needed to reduce salt intake and protect lives.”

The report showed that WHO member states are expected to miss the mark on their 2013 goal to reduce sodium intake by 30 per cent in 2025.

The organization says sodium-reduction initiatives are cost-effective and, if implemented globally, could save seven million lives by 2030.

And yet much of the world is still not listening.

“Unhealthy diets are a leading cause of death and disease globally, and excessive sodium intake is one of the main culprits,” said the WHO’s director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“This report shows that most countries are yet to adopt any mandatory sodium reduction policies, leaving their people at risk of heart attack, stroke, and other health problems.”

In places like Chile, the United Kingdom and South Korea, where actions targeting sodium consumption include clear warning labels on products, a reduction of salt in processed foods and public education campaigns, there have been positive results.

In Canada, the government warns that “Recent estimates suggest that six out of 10 Canadians consume too much sodium. This number is even higher among children, teens and males of all age groups.”

The numbers are troubling.

“Of particular concern,” the government notes, “81 per cent of children aged one to three years, 99 per cent of children aged four to eight years and over 95 per cent of males between the ages of 14 and 30 are eating too much sodium.”

What is being done about it?

As of Jan. 1, 2026, black and white front-of-package warning labels will be mandatory in this country to identify foods that are high in salt, saturated fat and sugars.

The labels were designed based on public consultations and consumer research to ensure they are easily understood by Canadians of all health literacy levels.

Early study results on the use of the labels are promising.

Frankly, they can’t come soon enough.

I started checking food product labels for sodium content after my husband had a heart attack and flatlined in 2015, shortly after being diagnosed with hypertension.

We were lucky.

Too many people in this country (and many others) won’t get a second chance.

Pam Frampton is a freelance writer and editor who lives in St. John’s. Email pamelajframpton@gmail.com X: pam_frampton