Salt reduction will prevent nearly 200,000 cases of heart disease and
save -L-1.64bn

Date:
February 22, 2021
Source:
Queen Mary University of London
Summary:
England's salt reduction program will have led to nearly 200,000
fewer adults developing heart disease and -L-1.64 billion of
healthcare cost savings by 2050, according to new research.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== England's salt reduction programme will have led to nearly 200,000 fewer
adults developing heart disease and -L-1.64 billion of healthcare cost
savings by 2050, according to research by Queen Mary University of London.


========================================================================== However, the researchers warn that the recent stalling of salt reduction programmes is endangering the potential health gains, as salt intake
remains significantly higher than recommended levels.

Excess salt intake is strongly linked with raised blood pressure and
increased risks of cardiovascular disease, as well as kidney disease,
gastric cancer and osteoporosis. Raised blood pressure is responsible
for half of the burden of ischemic heart disease and more than 60 per
cent of strokes.

In 2003 to 2010, the Food Standards Agency, in collaboration with the food industry, established salt reduction targets in over 85 food categories,
which involved reformulating processed foods, product labelling and public awareness campaigns. Consequently, average population-level salt intake
reduced by 15 per cent in the period 2000 to 2011, with the decline
attributed to food companies reformulating their products.

The new research, published in the journal Hypertension, used 2000-2018 population survey salt intake data and disease burden data to project
the impact of the salt reduction programme, and found that:
* The 2003 to 2018 salt reduction programme in England achieved
an overall
salt intake reduction of 1 gram/day per adult, from 9.38 grams/day
in 2000 to 8.38 grams/day in 2018.

* If 2018 salt intake levels are maintained, by 2050 the programme
would
have led to 193,870 fewer adults developing premature cardiovascular
disease (comprising 83,140 cases of premature ischemic heart
disease and 110,730 premature strokes), and -L-1.64 billion of
health care cost savings for the adult population of England.

* If the World Health Organization recommended salt intake of
5 grams/day
is achieved by 2030 in England, these benefits could double,
preventing a further 213,880 premature cardiovascular disease cases
and further health and social care savings to the UK government
of -L-5.33 billion.

Lead researcher Professor Borislava Mihaylova from Queen Mary University
of London said: "Our results are striking because of the large health
benefits that we see with an effective government policy of reducing
salt in everyday food products.



========================================================================== "These gains could be seriously endangered if the policy is weakened. The stalling of salt reduction efforts in the past few years is now eating
away at the potential population health gains and is costing our health
service dearly.

"Over the last few years, quantities of salt in diets have remained
steady at levels much higher than recommended. If we can reduce our salt
intake to the recommended 5g per day, we will double health benefits
and healthcare savings by the year 2050." Professor Graham MacGregor, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Queen Mary University of London
and Chairman of Action on Salt said: "This study shows the enormous health benefits and cost effectiveness of the gradual reduction in salt intake
in the UK that occurred between 2003-2011. Since then, the food industry
has stopped reducing the excessive amounts of salt they add to our food
(80 per cent of our intake) due largely to government inaction. It's now
time for Downing Street to take decisive measures in forcing the food
industry to comply. If not, many more thousands of people will suffer unnecessary strokes and heart attacks." The authors say that the salt reduction programme in England was highly successful until 2011 because
of the government pressure on industry to reduce salt content, but that
this changed from 2011 to 2017 once it continued under the Department
of Health as part of the Public Health Responsibility Deal. Few of the
proposed actions were implemented under the Responsibility Deal and
the programme failed to achieve the National Institute for Health and
Clinical Excellence's recommended salt intake targets of 6 grams/day
per adult by 2015.

The food industry in the UK is still producing high-salt products
in spite of strong evidence that it is technologically feasible and commercially viable to produce lower-salt products, and there is ample
room for incremental reductions in their salt content, according to
the researchers.

To get back on track, they say the programme will benefit from (1)
a strict enforcement of salt reduction targets, for example, through legislation or financial penalties for food companies failing to comply;
(2) setting more stringent salt targets; and (3) extending salt targets
to the out-of-home sector, which remain lenient and lack the proper
monitoring mechanisms.

Despite the high-quality data on population-level salt intake and
disease burden used, the study has a number of limitations. The sample
size for measuring sodium excretion from 24-hour urine collections
(the most accurate way to assess salt intake) was small. There is
also a lack of salt intake data in children. The long study period may
present a further limitation due to the uncertainty in model parameters, assumptions on continuity of the salt reduction programme, and evolution
of cardiovascular disease and salt intake trends.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Queen_Mary_University_of_London. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Sergi Alonso, Monique Tan, Changqiong Wang, Seamus Kent, Linda
Cobiac,
Graham A. MacGregor, Feng J. He, Borislava Mihaylova. Impact
of the 2003 to 2018 Population Salt Intake Reduction Program
in England - A Modeling Study. Hypertension, 2021 DOI:
10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.16649 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/02/210222082613.htm

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