The Food Standards Agency's latest salt reduction targets could result in public health being endangered, say food producers.

The warning about increasing potentially fatal cases of the food bug botulism comes amid growing concerns over new salt targets fod foods such as bacon and ham, sausages, crisps and cakes.

Claire Cheney, director general of the Provision Trade Federation, is one of an increasing number of food industry representatives who have hit back at the FSA's "unrealistic" targets. She was quoted in The Times as saying: "This will force us to reduce the shelf-life further and with that come serious food safety concerns, not least the risk of botulism."

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Overdosing on water while cutting back on vital salt could cost you your health and even your life. The dangers have been highlighted by the case of a woman who suffered brain damage after following a low-salt diet.

Dawn Page, from Faringdon in Oxfordshire, has been awarded more than £800,000 damages in an out-of-court settlement after following a detox diet in which she increased her water intake and decreased her salt consumption. Following the case, the safety of such detox diets is being increasly called into question.

Dr Sandy Macnair, medical adviser to the Salt Association, said: "Sodium is very near the top of the list of essential nutrients. There is no problem with getting rid of an excess of salt - the body can handle ten times its usual intake effortlessly but it struggles to save sodium when the supply is suddenly cut short."

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Local authorities are being urged to plan ahead for snowfalls and ice this winter after late bad weather in spring kept UK road salt suppliers at full stretch as winter maintenance teams battled to de-ice our roads and keep our highways safe.

Early indications are that temperatures across northern Europe this winter, including the UK, are likely to be colder than last and Salt Association members are keen to ensure that local authorities are not caught out by prematurely running down stocks of de-icing salt. Snow or ice has occurred in late spring over the past three years, bringing roads to a standstill and endangering lives.

Peter Sherratt, general secretary of the Salt Association, said: "Spreading salt on roads to make them safe is a vital task. Cost-saving is unlikely to be an adequate defence for authorities that fail to do so."

Image courtesy of Salt Union Ltd

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New evidence is emerging to show that reducing your salt intake significantly may trigger premature ageing as well as damaging your heart and your kidneys.

The evidence that following Government advice to reduce salt intake could be harmful comes from a recently published study from the Wolfson Medical Centre in Tel Aviv.

The study shows that above average levels of aldosterone in the blood in healthy young adults can cause fibrosis and stiffening of the walls of large arteries along with inflammation and muscle enlargement, changes usually associated with high blood pressure.

Aldosterone is released into the blood when salt intake is reduced and its main function is to conserve salt by preventing its excretion via the kidneys in the urine.

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