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releases 04/09/2006 SMA responds to faculty
of public health on salt Attempts by a public health campaign group to apply further pressure to Britain’s food industry over salt could put some sectors of the population at risk. The warning comes from the Salt Manufacturers’ Association in its response to the Faculty of Public Health, which has invited comment from wide-ranging stakeholders on a new position statement on salt in which it says the Government should set annual salt reduction targets across all food product categories. “The FPH seems to have accepted the Food Standards Agency’s now widely questioned science on salt when it should, in the public interest, be challenging it,” says SMA general secretary, Peter Sherratt. “It isn’t just us saying it. There is now a wide group of independent experts saying that the FSA and the Government have got it wrong.” “There is no consensus that there are any significant benefits in cutting dietary salt, and there could be risks for some people. If the FPH’s advice is pursued, it could actually place large sections of the public at risk. A more responsible approach would be to join us in calling on the Government to commission genuinely independent scientific research on the subject and to monitor long-term health outcomes.” The science shows that, for the great majority of the population, salt intake has a negligible effect on blood pressure and there is no proof that cutting back will make anyone live longer. The exception is a small minority of people who are both hypertensive and salt sensitive. The SMA points out in its letter to the Faculty of Public Health that there is growing evidence to show that three particular population groups could be at risk from following government advice to cut back on salt consumption:
Key points made by the SMA about the FPH’s position statement on salt include pointing out that, contrary to the Food Standard Agency’s SACN report, there is no evidence that salt causes hypertension. It also disputes the claim that reducing average salt intake to 6g per day would result in many fewer strokes and deaths from heart disease. The research on which this claim was based had been widely discredited given that nearly all the clinical trials included were of poor quality. The SMA quotes a string of independent experts across the world who have
questioned the UK’s Government’s blanket advice. They include
the Manchester-based former President of the European Hypertension Society,
Professor Tony Heagerty. The most recent addition to the list is Dr James
Goodwin, Head of Research at Help the Aged. Media contact Rachel Hedges, Daybreak Communications 0845 644 3845, mobile 07968 711937, e-mail rachel.hedges@daybreakcomm.co.uk
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