Consumers are finally becoming aware how much salt they eat, the Food Standards Agency claimed this week.

The FSA, which launched the Sid the Slug salt campaign four months ago, said its research showed there had been a steady increase in the number of people recognising that their diet contained too much salt.

Of the 2,000 people questioned, 32% claimed they were making a "special effort" to cut down on salt and 31% were now looking at labels to check the salt content in food before buying it.

In the survey, 27% of respondents also admitted that they would consider not buying a product "all of the time" because of its salt content.

FSA director Gill Fine was pleased with the way the catering industry was working towards reducing salt content. She said: "Top chefs such as Nick Nairn, Antony Worrall Thompson and Anton Edelmann have also supported the campaign by offering advice and suggesting recipes that taste great but have less salt."

She added: "The research shows that, as a result of the campaign, more and more consumers are looking out for salt and becoming aware of the health risks."

Edelmann, first principal chef for Sodexho's Directors Table, agreed. He said: "Salt levels certainly need to be cut, not just in processed foods and at home, but also in the catering industry.

"Salt simply covers up bad cooking and poor-quality ingredients," he added.

Worrall Thompson agreed on the value of checking labels, but he also called for people to take responsibility for what they eat and "get stuck in to some good home cooking".


Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 10 February 2005