Salt Awareness Week 2013
Less Salt Please!
Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) aimed to show how everybody, including chefs, can use less salt and still enjoy the great flavour of their food.
Many people now know that eating too much salt is bad for their health and are looking to cut down. However, whilst you can take control of your salt intake when preparing food at home by reading the labels and not adding salt, when eating out out of the home it can be difficult to know where to start. It is much harder to eat less salt when eating food prepared by other people, such as chefs in restaurants, cafes, canteens, takeaway and fast food venues – not to mention recipe suggestions in cook books. These foods can contain a lot of hidden salt, and without labels on these products, it is very hard to make a healthier choice.
As part of the week, CASH carried out a survey looking at the salt content of meals in high end, chain and fast food restaurants, as well as cafes. The results of the survey demonstrates the shockingly high levels of salt found in the out of home sector, and highlights the need for salt reduction in this area. Click here for more information.
Blood Pressure UK Chief Executive Katharine Jenner said:
“We are all eating too much salt; if you want to cut down at home you can do; by reading the labels, using less salt in cooking and using less processed food. However it’s not so easy when you are grabbing lunch on the go or out for a nice evening meal. As most of the salt we eat is hidden in our food, for National Salt Awareness Week, we are joining CASH in asking the public to stand up to chefs and ask for ‘less salt please!’”.