Tougher limits on salt in packaged foods could save thousands of lives, study shows

Introducing tougher restrictions on sodium levels for packaged food could prevent thousands of deaths and save billions of dollars in health spending in Australia alone, a new study shows.

Mandating stringent targets for sodium levels in Australian packaged foods in line with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations could prevent about 40,000 cardiovascular events and up to 3000 deaths over a 10-year period, according to new research published on Thursday in the The Lancet Public Health.

Around 32,000 new cases of kidney disease could also be avoided and some $3.25 billion in healthcare costs saved over the population’s lifespans.

Led by researchers at The George Institute for Global Health in collaboration with UNSW Sydney, Griffith University and Johns Hopkins University, the study is the first to project the long-term impacts of setting mandatory sodium reduction targets for processed foods, by comparing the Australian government’s current voluntary benchmarks with the higher targets recommended by the WHO.

Excessive sodium intake is a major killer globally, contributing to cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD). In Australia, average daily consumption is almost double what is recommended by the WHO, with the majority coming from salt hidden in foods like processed meats, bread and bakery products, cereal and grain products, and dairy products.

Study author Professor Jason Wu, Head of Nutrition Science at The George Institute and a Professor at UNSW Medicine & Health's School of Population Health, said the analysis showed that setting sodium reduction levels higher than the current Australian targets, and making them mandatory, could bring significant health benefits and reduce the burden of CVD and CKD on the healthcare system.

“Our study projected enormous reductions in both cases and deaths from heart attacks, strokes and other heart conditions, as well as from kidney disease, within just a decade if the WHO reduction targets were mandated. Beyond 10 years, we also showed that this reduction in disease burden could generate billions of dollars in savings from healthcare costs related to these diseases,” he said.

The WHO recommends reformulating food products to reduce sodium levels as part of its goal to decrease sodium consumption by 30% globally by 2025. This is also a component of the Australian federal government’s Healthy Food Partnership (HFP), launched in 2015, which asks the food industry to reduce sodium levels across 27 food categories, among other measures to support healthy eating.

“Australia’s sodium reformulation targets not only remain voluntary, but are also less rigorous than the WHO sodium benchmarks. We see industry consistently failing to meet voluntary targets and this weak regulatory system means Australia is missing an opportunity to protect its people from harmful effects of eating too much sodium,” Prof. Wu added.