Children's food too salty, says survey

By CHARLES ARTHUR in London

Children are eating far more salt than they should because food manufacturers are ignoring British Government healthy eating standards, says an independent watchdog.

A survey by the Food Commission found salt levels in crisps had doubled in the past 25 years and remained static only in staples such as bread, soup and baked beans.

The findings come despite repeated claims by the large food companies that they are committed to reducing salt levels in the British diet.

The result of the failure is that children under 7, who should by Government recommendations eat no more than 2g of salt a day, will almost certainly go over that allowance if they eat two slices of bread with Marmite, or a small can of Heinz pasta shapes, or a Burger King children's meal.

Confusing labels with no clear recommendations on salt were also blamed for high salt intake. But manufacturers were unwilling to subscribe to a clearer "high salt" or "low salt" labelling scheme, said another group, Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash).

"Most labels just have a 'sodium' value, and then you have to multiply that by 2.5 to get the amount of salt you'll be eating in grams," said Penelope Gilbert, a nutritionist at Cash.

"Then you have to know what your daily allowance is, and your children's. It's terribly confusing."

Commission research officer Kath Dalmeny said: "Eating high levels of salt is linked to high blood pressure, which is the main cause of strokes and a major factor in heart attacks."

Excess dietary salt had also been implicated in calcium loss, leading to osteoporosis.

"Most people eat about twice as much salt as the recommended maximum daily level," said Ms Dalmeny. "However, it is very hard to cut back because salt is hidden in everyday products such as bread, canned soup and baked beans."

But the Food and Drink Federation, which represents the manufacturers, said any claims that its members had done little to reduce salt content were out of date.

Its deputy director-general, Martin Paterson, said: "Bread manufacturers have reduced salt content across their product range by a quarter since the late 1980s."

Steve Chandler, of the Snack, Nuts and Crisp Manufacturers' Association, said salt was essential to bring out the artificial flavours in potato chips. Crisps with less salt had failed to sell.

- INDEPENDENT

Herald feature: Health