Salt shakers in restaurants should have a tobacco-style health warning placed on them, experts say.
A group of doctors from around the world have demanded urgent action to drive home the dangers of high salt consumption.
They envision salt shakers and table salt bought in supermarkets to have a label on the front saying ‘limit your use’.
It would also read: ‘Too much sodium in the diet causes high blood pressure and increases risk of stomach cancer, stroke, heart disease and kidney disease.’
The hard-hitting approach could contribute to saving millions of lives, the doctors hope.
But critics argued such extreme measures ‘infantiles’ adults and diminishes their freedom of choice.
Salt shakers in restaurants should have a tobacco-style health warning placed on them, experts say. They envision it to read: ‘Too much sodium in the diet causes high blood pressure and increases risk of stomach cancer, stroke, heart disease and kidney disease’. Mock-up
Dr Norm Campbell, University of Calgary, was the first author of a statement in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension.
The former President of the World Hypertension League said: ‘Unhealthy diets are a leading cause of death globally.
‘And excess salt consumption is the biggest culprit, estimated to cause over three million deaths globally in 2017.
‘The World Health Organization established a target for countries to reduce sodium intake by 30 per cent by 2025.
‘And governments and the food industry have been working together to reduce salt in processed foods.’
Dr Campbell added: ‘However, urgent action now needs to be taken to raise consumer awareness of these dangers.’
Dr Tom Frieden, president and chief executive officer of Resolve to Save Lives, said: ‘Most people aren’t aware that the amount of salt they are consuming is raising their blood pressure and shortening their lives.
‘Adding warning labels to all salt packaging is another way to make the healthy choice the easy choice.’
Sodium, the main component of salt, can be dangerous in excess by raising blood pressure.
This could lead to heart disease or stroke, but there is some evidence that too much salt can damage the heart and kidneys without increasing blood pressure.
Acute ingestion of sodium in the range of 17g or more in an adult, and 12.5g or more in an infant can cause seizures, coma, and death, the doctors from the UK, Canada, Australia, the US and China warned.
UK guidelines say adults should eat no more than 2.4g of sodium per day.
That’s the equivalent to one teaspoon of salt a day – but many people are eating far more without even realising.
On average, Britons are consuming 8.1g a day, which is about a third more than the maximum recommendation.
The largest source of sodium is processed foods, such ready meals, crisps, sandwiches, pasta sauces and cured meats.
Foods packaging is required to display information about the salt content on the front of the packaging.
But it’s not easy to understand, and should be clearer, the doctors sate.
Dr Jacqui Webster, of the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre on Population Salt Reduction, said: ‘Although most countries require sodium levels on labels in processed foods, they are difficult for people to interpret and don’t warn of any health risks.
‘Health warnings on salt package and dispensers would be a simple, cost-effective way of conveying the dangers of salt to billions of people worldwide.’
Some countries have adopted extensive measures to reduce dietary salt.
Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico City have banned salt shakers from restaurant tables.
But none, as of yet, have started plastering health warnings on supermarket products.
The authors on the statement wrote: ‘It would increase awareness of the dangers of high‐sodium diets by people purchasing sodium and a reminder of the dangers by people seeing the containers at stores, food service establishments, or in the home.’
Think tank Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) are against the idea, which mirrors targets drawn up by Public Health England to reduce sugar, salt and calories in foods by up to 20 per cent.
Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics: ‘The Government has led a decade-long campaign against salt, and since 2017 there have been 220 different active salt and sugar targets for food.
‘If current government proposals come into force, it will give the UK one of the most restrictive food markets in the world.
‘Health warnings on salt packets will do nothing for public health and everything to continue infantilising the British public, eroding individual responsibility for what we choose to eat.’