Reducing salt intake can save lives and money

By Rosie Schwartz

Rosie
Schwartz explains the latest recommendations to slash how much salt we
eat, but warns it may be a while before we see any changes

How many times have you heard that we consume too much sodium? It is
indeed a familiar warning. On average, we consume more than double
what's recommended: 3,400 milligrams a day, when we should only be
consuming 1,500 milligrams. And it's costing us dearly - both in terms
of health and health care dollars.
According to a just released
report, Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada - Recommendations of the
Sodium Working Group, it's estimated that slashing our intake by 1,800
milligrams a day would prevent a staggering 23,500 cardiovascular
disease events like heart attacks and stroke per year - a 13 percent
decrease. Our salt-laden food - with most of the sodium coming from
processed food rather than by our own hands in the form of a salt shaker
- also contributes to kidney disease and may up our risk for stomach
cancer, osteoporosis and asthma. Reducing our intake would also lead to a
savings of $1.38 billion per year in direct health care.
But
there is both potentially good and bad news to report in the battle
being waged to reduce our collective sodium intakes. The Sodium Working
Group, mandated by the Ministry of Health almost three years ago and
made up of members from all sectors with stakes in the issue - food
industry, government, health professional organizations and consumer
advocacy groups - has brought forth some strong recommendations.

The potentially bad news is that it's up to Health Canada to respond in a
timely fashion and given its history in cleaning up the food supply,
we're likely in for a very long wait before we see any changes.

The
recommendations were divided up into four categories including those
which deal with the food supply, awareness and education, research and
monitoring of the results. Here are a few highlights:

changes to Nutrition Facts box


When you look at various nutrients in a food by
checking the Nutrition Facts box, you will see a column for %DV. This
means the percentage of the Daily Value of that nutrient that you should
either strive to obtain - as in desirable nutrients) or those you might
be looking to reduce (as in the undesirable ones). The report
recommends that the percentage should be based on the acceptable level
or Adequate Intake (AI) of sodium - 1500 milligrams per day - rather
than the current one (2400 milligrams) which is near the upper limit. By
using the AI on labels, consumers will have more of an idea how much
sodium a food is really contributing.


More standardized serving sizes


The group also wants to see standardized serving
sizes on nutrition labels. This will make the task of comparing sodium
counts in similar products much easier. Currently, unless you're a math
whiz, you need a calculator with you at the grocery store.


On-site disclosure of nutrition information


Here we go again. One of the report's
recommendations is to have sodium and calorie counts available at chain
restaurants to help Canadians make lower-sodium choices. Parliament
previously defeated a bill calling for these measures but hopefully now
they'll vote with the health of Canadians in mind.



Establishing voluntary sodium reduction targets by food category

The
Working Group recommends that Health Canada continue to work with the
food industry to establish voluntary sodium reduction targets by food
category with the first group targets published in early 2011 and the
naming of the second at the same time. Ideally by 2016, using this
step-by-step process, the sodium content of Canada's food supply would
be reduced by 25 percent.

There are many groups that feel that mandatory, rather than voluntary,
action is called for because of the cost to Canadians. While some food
companies like Campbell Soup have been actively working to lower the
sodium in their products, others like some fast food companies are
bringing out new sodium-laden offerings.

So what does
Health Canada say about all this? "Over the coming months, Health Canada
will be working with its federal, provincial and territorial partners
to assess all of the recommendations made by the working group and
determine how they can best be addressed," says Gary Scott Holub,
spokesperson for Health Canada. He added "Individual Canadians also have
a role to play -- making healthy choices to reduce sodium intake can go
a long way towards reducing the risk of chronic disease."

The
words "over the coming months" and "individual Canadians" may be a sign
of inaction on Health Canada's part. It sounds, yet again, like they
are stalling. And their track record on helping Canadians reduce their
risk of disease by improving the health quotient of our food is not a
good one. Their dealings with trans fats is a case in point.

Back
in early 2005, the Trans Fat Task Force was formed to come up with a
plan "to effectively eliminate or reduce processed trans fats in
Canadian foods to the lowest level possible." The final report,
TRANSforming the Food Supply, released in June 2006, recommended
regulations, instead of voluntary action, to rid our food of these
deadly man-made fats. Instead, the government opted for voluntary action
and monitoring trans fats levels to see the progress.

Well,
back in the spring of this year, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq
admitted that the voluntary route has failed and that regulations may be
needed - a full four years after the report was delivered. So what's
happening on that front? Not much. As of last week, "Health Canada is
continuing to engage stakeholders in consultations in 2010 to further
clarify potential technical challenges that still remain in order to
meet the trans fat targets," stated Health Canada's Gary Scott Holub.
So, what have they been doing for the past five years?

The signs of the same lack of action on the sodium issue seem to be appearing. Let's hope not - for health's sake.