Report recommends global rollout for Responsibility Deal salt reduction strategy

Efforts by food and drink companies to slash the salt content of food are helping to save 9,000 lives a year and £1.5bn in annual NHS costs, according to a new study published in The Lancet.

Researchers claimed the moves being spearheaded by the government Responsibility Deal had proved a “world-leading” success story, which would provide a lesson for other countries to follow.

The study praised the “strong leadership and scientific credibility” of the programme, which has resulted in progressively lower voluntary salt targets being set for more than 80 categories of food.

Salt intake in the population fell from 9.5g per day to 8.1g per day, or 15%, during the seven years the study looked at, starting in 2003-04.

It concluded the “clear timeframe” for the industry to achieve the targets as well as the voluntary nature of the deal had helped make it effective.

“Working and engaging with the food industry to encourage reformulation of food to contain less salt to meet these targets is a key reason for the success,” said the study, which was undertaken by professors from Queen Mary University and City University London.

“We undertook a comprehensive analysis of the programme with the aim of providing a simple step-by-step guide for the development and implementation of a national salt reduction programme that other countries could follow,” said lead author Dr Feng J He.

“The challenge now is to spread this policy out to all other countries around the world.”

Barbara Gallani, director of the FDF’s regulatory, science and health division, added: “This study demonstrates what collaborative working and voluntary action can achieve for public health. Food manufacturers have been committed to reducing salt in their products for many years and gradual reductions in salt levels have achieved considerable results.”

The report comes in the wake of the government’s controversial decision to scrap plans for tougher salt reduction targets for many products such as bacon and sausages after accepting industry claims of insurmountable technical barriers and risks of unacceptable changes in taste.

Instead the DH plans to freeze, or in some cases even lower, the targets for a raft of products, especially meats, when it reveals new targets at the beginning of next year.