Nearly half the world's countries have launched salt reduction initiatives
Salt reduction is the global consensus on chronic disease control. Since 2004, WHO has issued and revised the recommended intake standards for salt, and issued a series of reports and documents on salt reduction, so as to promote coordination among countries and achieve the goal of salt reduction. Liang xiaofeng, deputy director of the Chinese center for disease control and prevention, said that up to now, nearly half of the countries in the world have launched national salt reduction guidelines or actions, and formulated their own industrial salt reduction guidelines. Most countries have adopted a series of salt reduction measures in processed food, food labeling and public publicity, among which the UK, Finland, Australia and Japan have achieved initial results.
China's salt intake is still as high as 10.5 grams per day
China is one of the countries with the highest salt intake in the world. Despite years of continuous publicity and education on salt reduction for residents, distribution of salt spoons and pilot salt reduction, per capita salt intake is still up to 10.5 grams per day, far more than the recommended 6 grams per day in China's dietary guidelines.
Researcher at the Chinese nutrition society director yue-xin Yang made the salt guide report, she said, in order to do the technical support work of the national salt reduction, in the original national health and family planning commission, the Chinese center for disease control project support, since 2014, the Chinese center for disease control and prevention nutrition and health to and carried out the sold pre-packaged food of fat, sugar, salt and other core nutrition monitoring, analyzes the classification of food and sodium content distribution. The working group on salt reduction guidelines was established by the Chinese society of nutrition and the institute of nutrition and health of the Chinese center for disease control and prevention, and a number of investigation and research work were started, including food packaging label survey, consumer survey, technical research on salt reduction in packaged food, discussion on salt reduction measures and experience in various countries, and classification and research on salt reduction technology in enterprises.
Processed foods are expected to have 20% less sodium by 2030
"The working group on salt reduction guidelines has been working on the drafting of salt reduction guidelines since 2016. On the basis of collecting salt reduction guidelines from food industry in many countries, the first draft of salt reduction guidelines has been consulted by enterprises, and has been discussed and corrected by experts in various fields. After a series of consultations with various managers and policy makers, opinions and consensus were widely solicited." Honorary chairman of Chinese nutrition society, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering wang longde says.
Salt reduction guide, which integrates the salt reduction measures of various countries and the experience of the industry, puts forward the basic principles, objectives, technical procedures and research needs of salt reduction in China's food industry by category. The guidelines for salt reduction suggest that food companies, as practitioners of salt reduction, should gradually achieve the goal of reducing the average sodium content of processed foods by 20% by 2030, with step-by-step implementation and key breakthroughs. Food enterprises can refer to the average level and distribution of sodium content in similar foods, and reduce sodium salt consumption by improving technology, taste adjustment and other technologies, so as to achieve the overall reduction of salt consumption in the industry.
