Slashing salt can save lives – and it won’t hurt your hip pocket or tastebuds
- Written by: Peter Breadon, Program Director, Health and Aged Care, Grattan Institute
Each year, more than 2,500 Australians[1] die from diseases linked to eating too much salt.
We shouldn’t be putting up with so much unnecessary illness, mainly from heart disease and strokes, and so many deaths.
As a new Grattan Institute report[2] shows, there are practical steps the federal government can take to save lives, reduce health spending and help the economy.
Read more: Essays on health: how food companies can sneak bias into scientific research[3]
We eat too much salt, with deadly consequences
Eating too much salt is bad for your health. It raises blood pressure[4], which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke[5].
About one in three[6] Australians has high blood pressure, and eating too much salt is the biggest individual contributor.
Unfortunately, the average Australian eats far too much salt – almost double[7] the recommended daily maximum of 5 grams, equivalent to a teaspoon[8].
Read more: Health Check: how much salt is OK to eat?[9]
Australian governments know excessive salt intake is a big problem. That’s why in 2021 they set a target[10] to reduce salt intake by at least 30% by 2030.
It’s an ambitious and worthy goal. But we’re still eating too much salt and we don’t have the policies to change that.
Grattan Institute/Woolworths
Salt limits are the best way to cut salt intake
Reducing the amount of salt added to food during manufacturing is the most effective way to reduce intake.
Salt limits can help us do that. They work by setting limits on how much salt can be added to different kinds of food, such as bread or biscuits. To meet these limits, companies need to change the recipes of their products, reducing the amount of salt.
Grattan Institute analysis of Coyle (2021) and ABS (2023)
Action could save lives
Modelling from the University of Melbourne shows[22] that fixing our failed salt limits could add 36,000 extra healthy years of life, across the population, over the next 20 years.
This would delay more than 300 deaths each year and reduce health-care spending by A$35 million annually, the equivalent of 6,000 hospital visits.
Grattan Institute/Melbourne University School of Population and Global Health
International experience[23] shows[24] the costs of implementing such salt limits would be very low and far outweighed by the benefits.
How to fix our failed salt limits
To achieve these gains, the federal government should start by enforcing the limits we already have, by making compliance mandatory. Fifteen countries[25] have mandatory salt limits, and 14 are planning to introduce them.
The number of foods covered by salt limits in Australia should more than double, to be as broad as those the UK set in 2014[26]. Broader targets would include common foods for which Australia does not currently set targets, such as baked beans, butter, margarine and canned vegetables.
A loophole in the current scheme that lets companies leave out a fifth of their products should be closed. The federal government should design the policy, rather than doing it jointly with industry representatives.
Read more:
Concerned about your risk of a heart attack? Here are 5 ways to improve your heart health[27]
Over the coming decades, Australia will need many new and improved policies to reduce diet-related disease. Reducing salt intake must be part of this agenda. For too long, Australia has let the food industry set the standard, with almost no progress against a major threat to our health.
Getting serious about salt would save lives, and it would more than pay for itself through reduced health-care costs and increased economic activity.
References^ 2,500 Australians (www.aihw.gov.au)^ Grattan Institute report (grattan.edu.au)^ Essays on health: how food companies can sneak bias into scientific research (theconversation.com)^ raises blood pressure (www.nature.com)^ heart disease and stroke (www.ahajournals.org)^ one in three (www.aihw.gov.au)^ almost double (onlinelibrary.wiley.com)^ a teaspoon (www.heartfoundation.org.au)^ Health Check: how much salt is OK to eat? (theconversation.com)^ 2021 they set a target (www.health.gov.au)^ About three-quarters (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)^ Shutterstock (www.shutterstock.com)^ by 20% in about a decade (www.ahajournals.org)^ South Africa (www.nature.com)^ Most people don’t notice (www.mdpi.com)^ from common foods (www.sciencedirect.com)^ salt crystals finer (www.wsj.com)^ potassium-enriched salt (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)^ adapt to less salty foods (doi.org)^ What we may think are the healthiest bread and wrap options actually have the most salt (theconversation.com)^ 0.3% (www.abs.gov.au)^ shows (mspgh.unimelb.edu.au)^ International experience (www.nature.com)^ shows (www.ahajournals.org)^ Fifteen countries (www.sciencedirect.com)^ UK set in 2014 (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)^ Concerned about your risk of a heart attack? Here are 5 ways to improve your heart health (theconversation.com)
