The study, published in the American Heart Association's Journal Hypertension, examined how much salt people in the UK currently consume from packaged and takeaway foods, and estimated what would happen if all food categories covered by the government’s 2024 salt targets met those goals.
The 2024 salt targets set maximum and average salt limits for 108 categories of everyday packaged and out-of-home foods - from bread and ready meals to takeaway favourites - to guide the food industry in gradually reducing salt across the UK diet.
Excess salt intake raises blood pressure and increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of illness and death in the UK.
The research team, supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), used national diet survey data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (2018–19) and a population health model called PRIMEtime to estimate how reducing salt intake could affect blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, quality of life and NHS healthcare costs.
Read the full story on the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences website.