Salt

Eating too much salt can lead to high blood pressure (hypertension), which increases our risk of developing heart disease.

This is why we encourage everyone to make sure they are eating less than 6g a day. Simple steps such as not adding salt to foods when cooking, not adding salt to meals at the table, and checking food labels can help everyone can work towards reducing their salt intake. 

Clear food labels are important

75% of the salt we eat comes from pre-packaged food – sometimes food we would not even expect to find salt in, like breakfast cereals and bread. Clear labelling on the front of food packaging can help to us understand how much salt is in the food we're buying, and makes it possible to choose healthier options. 

Our call to industry

We all have a responsibility to make sure we are eating healthy amounts of salt, but the food industry has an important role to play too - by reducing the salt content in their foods, providing clear labelling, and being honest about what's in their products. It's also important that labels refer directly to salt rather than ‘sodium’ which can be a confusing term.

For more information please email policy@bhf.org.uk