Plan to reduce salt consumption in Spain

18/11/2009

80% of the Spanish population eats more than the recommended quantity of salt.

Halving the salt consumption of Spaniards would prevent thousands of deaths every year due to hypertension related illness. This is why in March this year the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN) set up a Plan to reduce Salt Consumption with the aim of reducing the daily salt intake to nearer the intake recommended by the World Health Organisation.

 

As part of the Plan, the AESAN has promoted two studies to define the field of action: the first to determine how much salt Spaniards eat, a figure unknown to date, and the second to determine the salt content of the most consumed foods. With these two parameters, the AESAN has the necessary information to meet the objectives to significantly reduce salt intake. The AESAN had previously encouraged the gradual reduction of the salt content in bread by 26.4%, making the bread sold in Spain one of the least salty breads in the European Union.

 

The president of the AESAN, Roberto Sabrido, underlined that in 2004 in Spain, “there were 123,867 deaths due to cardiovascular disease, 56,359 men and 67,508 women”, equivalent to 33.3% of the total mortality rate. 5% of the deaths due to cardiovascular disease “were directly caused by hypertension”, said Sabrido.

 

The WHO estimates that approximately 62% of cerebrovascular illness and 49% of ischemic heart disease can be attributed to high blood pressure (defined by blood pressures over 140/90 mmHg). In Spain, the prevalence of arterial hypertension in 2002 was estimated to be around 35%, although it reached as much as 40% in middle age and 68% among elderly people over 65, affecting approximately 10 million people.

 

The relationship between high salt consumption and an increased risk of arterial hypertension, observed not only in hypertense individuals but also in normotense individuals, is sound and has been confirmed in tests on animals and in clinical trials, such as epidemiological studies. A high salt consumption is associated with a greater risk of heart attack and cerebral ischemia.

 

SALT CONSUMPTION IN SPAIN

According to a study by the AESAN and the Complutense de Madrid University, the average salt consumption in Spain is 9.7 grams per person per day, almost double the quantity recommended by the WHO (less than 5 grams per person per day), and more than 80% of the population are estimated to eat more than the recommended quantity of salt.

 

Sabrido stated, when presenting the results of the studies on salt consumption, that “a reduction in salt intake is one of the simplest, most efficient and cost-effective ways of reducing the current prevalence of cardiovascular disease and, therefore, it has become a priority for public health authorities”. In neighbouring countries such as the United Kingdom, it has been estimated that a reduction in the population’s salt intake of 3 grams per day would lead to a reduction in blood pressure sufficient to prevent 11,000 deaths from cerebral ischemia and 7,700 deaths from heart attacks.

 

STUDIES

To draw up the Plan to reduce salt consumption based on the best existing scientific information and the precise analysis of the current situation, the AESAN commissioned a number of studies which form the foundations on which the Plan is designed:

• Analysis of salt consumption in the Spanish population and the principal food sources of sodium, carried out by Doctors Rosa Ortega and Ana Mª López Sobaler, from the department of Nutrition at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Studies (UCM). This study has established that the average salt intake in Spain is 9.7 grams per person per day. This is the first study of this nature in Spain on a national scale, given the difficulties of taking urine samples of healthy individuals over 24 hours. According to the study and bearing in mind that the WHO recommends a maximum salt intake of 5g /day, it can be deduced that more than 80% of the population eat more than the recommended salt intake.
• Analysis of the salt content in products that form part of the normal diet of Spaniards. This study, commissioned from the Consumers’ and Users’ Council (OCU), analysed more than 1,200 food samples and established which groups of food most contribute to the salt intake in the Spanish diet: cold meats and sausages, bread, dairy products and pre-cooked foods.

 

HIDDEN SALT

Thanks to these studies we know that approximately 70-75% of the salt consumed comes from foods that are processed and eaten away from home. This is known as the “hidden salt” in foods, as the diner does not know how much salt they are eating in these cases, at least with respect to non-processed food. Therefore, the authorities should focus on co-ordinating with the food industry to reduce the salt content in processed foods, just as they did with bread from the baker’s.