Cut salt intake! Save lives! Save public purse! According to new federal guidelines, Canadians should consume less than half of the sodium they are now taking in from foods and drinks. On average, Canadians consume about 3,400 milligrams of sodium a day; it is almost 2 teaspoons of salt daily. But the upper limit for adults is 2,300 mg - about a teaspoon of salt.

Experts have been saying already for two and a half year that to change habits of Canadians will take a time. Now, the goal is to reduce the consumption of salt to 2,400 mg by 2016. Sounds like a big step bringing the number down from 3,400, but still, it is higher than the maximum amount people can safely consume.

Packaged and processed foods, not the salt shaker, account for 77% of the sodium consumed by Canadians, the group said. So, with the current lifestyle and habit to eat quickly or often outside, which Canadians have like people in many other parts of the world, who have to cut the salt back are food producers. One of the recommendations of the 25-member panel group includes mandate sodium and calorie information to be placed prominently at chain restaurants serving standardized fare. Nutrition labels should also be based on the recommended daily intake of sodium - 1,500 milligrams - as opposed to the current 2,400 milligrams.

Canadian food industry is not contra the idea of reducing salt in the food. The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, which represents more than 30,000 members across Canada, also said it supported the strategy. Why so easy? Because the implementation of the strategy is not mandatory? "The working group's mandate was based on the idea that any action taken on sodium would be voluntary by the food industry," the Globe and Mail wrote. They say the process of creating legislation is too long, voluntary mechanism would be better, faster. But in the same time they say something like: it will take time to make less salt in the food reality.

Poor Canadians! Reducing the amount of dietary sodium to recommended levels could save 11,000 to 15,000 of their lives a year (not mentioning billions of health-care dollars). But they will have to wait, because reducing salt in a food seems to be a really big deal. Food companies probably want to start from the end. It seems, they expect people (customers) to cut the salt intake and then they may be prepared to change recipes of Packaged and processed foods. To wait for the public pressure it really takes time! Possibly more than to create legislation that always has been a time-consuming process.

Miroslava Hospodarova

Photo: ISIFA