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The food and beverage industry is helping Australian consumers lower their salt intake, Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) Chief Executive Kate Carnell said today.
‘While salt is an important part of our diet, we know that eating too much can contribute to high blood pressure and other cardio vascular illnesses. That’s why the food and beverage sector is actively involved in a number of programs to reduce the salt content in food and educate consumers on how to construct a more balanced diet,” Ms Carnell said. Ms Carnell said that the industry has long been involved in salt reduction strategies; both in terms of helping people understand how much salt is in their food and reformulating products to reduced salt levels. “For example, Vegemite, which started reducing its salt content in 1974, now has 13 per cent less salt than the original recipe, Unilever has removed more than 250 tonnes of salt from their spreads and Kellogg has removed a similar amount from their breakfast cereals since 1997. “More recently, The Smiths Snackfood Company reformulated 20 products removing about 190 tonnes of salt from the food supply over two years – Smith’s Crinkle Cut Chicken Potato Chips now contain 29 per cent less salt. And George Weston Foods has removed more than 342 tonnes of salt from its Golden and Tip Top product ranges.” Ms Carnell said that many food and beverage companies had been working with the National Heart Foundation to steadily reduce salt levels as part of the Tick program, which has been in place since 1989. AFGC and manufacturers are working with the Australian Division of World Action on Salt and Health (AWASH) to obtain better information on the amount of salt contained in processed foods and on salt reduction plans across specific product ranges. Food manufacturers are also participating in a number of roundtable discussions jointly convened by AFGC and the federal government through the Food Health Dialogue to set salt reduction targets across product categories. “The first two categories are breakfast cereals and breads, which were selected because they are commonly consumed by most people and will provide the biggest impact on the community as a whole. This process will help us demonstrate what the industry can achieve collectively to reduce salt – how much and by when,” Ms Carnell said. Ms Carnell said the introduction of Daily Intake Guide labelling puts the salt (sodium) content squarely on the front of the pack and tells consumers how much a standard portion contributes to their your daily intake.
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More information: Jo Thomas, AFGC Director Corporate Affairs 0417 667 169. |
