Adults Eat Salt Equal To 22 Bags Of Crisps

Imagine scoffing 22 small bags of salted crisps every single day. That’s the startling image behind new analysis showing adults in England consume as much salt in a week as you’d find in 155 standard crisp packets. The research, carried out for a major heart charity, puts average daily salt intake at 8.4g — roughly 40% above the government’s 6g guideline. To put that gap in everyday terms, it’s the same additional salt as in six packets of crisps. A typical 32–40g bag of salted crisps contains about 0.38g of salt, the charity notes. What makes the figures alarming is that most of this salt isn’t what people sprinkle on their meals. Bread, breakfast cereals, sauces and ready-made meals hide large amounts, so even someone who never adds a pinch at the table can easily overshoot the limit. That hidden salt matters because it raises blood pressure, the biggest single driver of heart attacks and strokes. Health bodies say the toll is tangible: excess salt is linked to at least 5,000 deaths a year in the UK from cardiovascular causes. Around three in ten adults are believed to have high blood pressure, and roughly five million people may be unaware they have it — a reminder that many are quietly at risk. Campaigners argue that expecting shoppers to spot and avoid hidden salt is unrealistic. They want ministers to force a change in the supply chain: legally binding salt limits across food categories, penalties for non-compliance, and even taxes on products that breach thresholds. Clear front-of-pack warnings would help shoppers pick lower-salt options at a glance, they say. The government says it is acting through a 10-year health plan aimed at prevention. Measures cited include tighter controls on junk-food advertising, curbs on multi-buy deals for less healthy products and new rules requiring firms to report healthier-food sales. The takeaway for consumers is simple: the extra salt on our plates often starts in the factory, not the grater. Small reformulations by manufacturers could shave off large amounts of salt across the population with hardly any change to what people buy — and that might be the easiest way to protect hearts across the country. --- Managing your business finances? TaxAce provides smart online accountancy services for UK businesses with flexible monthly plans. Image and reporting: https://www.theguardian.com | Read original article