Major food companies contribute more than 50% of household dietary sodium purchases in Australia
Published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, Coyle et al conducted a cross-sectional study to identify the relative contribution that food companies and their products made to Australian household sodium purchases in 2018, and to examine differences in sodium purchases by household income level. One year of grocery purchase data from […]
Assessing the Healthy Food Partnership’s Nutrient Reformulation Targets in Australia
Published in Nutrients, Rosewarne et al conducted a comparison study to assess whether the Healthy Food Partnership’s (HFP) proposed reformulation targets for 36 food categories, aiming to improve the overall quality of the food supply, were feasible and appropriate or whether more stringent targets were feasible. Using FoodSwitch as the nutrient composition database, a total […]
FoodSwitch: State of the Fast Food Supply
A survey on the state of the fast food supply in Australia by The George Institute for Global Health found 60 out of 144 fast food combo meals exceeded sodium targets; 23 of these were from Red Rooster and 18 from Hungry Jacks. The sodium targets were benchmarked per serving against the Australian Government’s Suggested […]
A Systematic Review of the Sources of Dietary Salt Around the World
Published in Advances in Nutrition, Bhat et al conducted a global systematic review of dietary salt sources. Between 1975 and 2018, 80 studies (74 peer-reviewed) from 34 countries were identified. Discretionary sources of salt contributed to more than half daily intake in at least eight countries, and more than a quarter of daily intake in […]
Reducing salt in bread to protect from cardiovascular disease in Morocco
In January 2020, Abdelfettah Derouiche presented recent salt reduction research from Morocco at the European Days of the French Society of Cardiology Congress in Paris. In his presentation he reflected on a five-year awareness raising campaign that aimed to encourage bakeries to reduce the amount of sodium chloride used when making white bread, along with […]
Researchers Find Formula to Reduce Sodium in Bread
A new low sodium bread dough formula has been developed by researchers from the University of Manitoba and Canada Bread. The sodium content of the bread baked by the researchers was reduced to 380 mg/100g with the new formula, down from an average of 450 mg/100g sodium in regular breads in Canada. They studied how […]
Savoury Snacks Report
For World Salt Awareness week, The George Institute, in partnership with Heart Foundation and VicHealth, released a report on the salt content of savoury snacks. The report analysed more than 1500 savoury snacks from 2013 to 2019 and found vege-based and legume-based snacks contain alarming amounts of salt. The saltiest vege-based snack, a kale chip, […]
Salt Awareness Week Activities 2020
World Salt Awareness week took place from the March 9th to 15th. The theme was “Hide and Seek” and global activities aimed to highlight salt “hidden” in processed and packaged food and the difficulties faced by consumers “seeking” lower salt options. People were encouraged to contact food companies to demand less salt in food as […]
Seaweed flakes as an alternative to table salt?
Seaweed has approximately 85% less sodium than salt while offering important micronutrients such as iodine, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron and zinc. Seaweed flakes can be added to stir-fries, noodles, and rice or to boost flavour in any dish. The seaweed market was valued at $11.1 billion in 2016 and is growing. There are now ground […]
“Pass less salt and when you pass it, make it potassium salt”
In an article recently published in The Hill, author Dr Thomas Frieden (President and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives) discusses the petition to the FDA to change potassium salt labelling regulations. Currently, the FDA requires companies to list potassium salt as “potassium chloride salt”. Frieden suggests that this could discourage people from purchasing […]