{"id":252235,"date":"2023-03-09T14:53:37","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T12:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/massive-efforts-needed-to-reduce-salt-intake-notes-report\/"},"modified":"2023-03-09T14:53:37","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T12:53:37","slug":"massive-efforts-needed-to-reduce-salt-intake-notes-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/massive-efforts-needed-to-reduce-salt-intake-notes-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Massive efforts needed to reduce salt intake, notes report"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sanews.gov.za\/sites\/default\/files\/2012\/images\/newsstorytemplate\/202303\/tablesalt.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p>A first-of-its-kind World Health Organisation (WHO) global report on sodium intake reduction shows that the world is off-track to achieve its global target of reducing sodium intake by 30% by 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Sodium, according to the WHO, is an essential nutrient, which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and premature death when eaten in excess.<\/p>\n<p>The main source of sodium is table salt, but it is also contained in other condiments such as sodium glutamate.<\/p>\n<p>The report shows that only 5% of WHO Member States are protected by mandatory and comprehensive sodium reduction policies and 73% of them lack the full range of implementation of such policies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cImplementing highly cost-effective sodium reduction policies could save an estimated seven million lives globally by 2030,\u201d the agency explained.<\/p>\n<p>The WHO said the policies are an important component of action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal target of reducing deaths from non-communicable diseases.<\/p>\n<p>However, today, only nine countries \u2013 Brazil, Chile, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Uruguay \u2013 have a comprehensive package of recommended policies to reduce sodium intake.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnhealthy diets are a leading cause of death and disease globally, and excessive sodium intake is one of the main culprits,\u201d said WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis report shows that most countries are yet to adopt any mandatory sodium reduction policies, leaving their people at risk of heart attack, stroke, and other health problems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He has called on all countries to implement the \u201cbest buys\u201d for sodium reduction, and on manufacturers to implement the WHO benchmarks for sodium content in food.<\/p>\n<p>A comprehensive approach to sodium reduction includes adopting mandatory policies and WHO\u2019s four \u201cbest buy\u201d interventions related to sodium, which greatly contribute to preventing non-communicable diseases.<\/p>\n<p>These include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Reformulating foods to contain less salt, and setting targets for sodium in foods and meals.<\/li>\n<li>Establishing public food procurement policies to limit salt or sodium-rich foods in public institutions such as hospitals, schools, workplaces and nursing homes.<\/li>\n<li>Front-of-package labelling helps consumers select products lower in sodium.<\/li>\n<li>Behaviour change communication and mass media campaigns to reduce salt\/sodium consumption.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Countries are encouraged to establish sodium content targets for processed foods, in line with the WHO Global Sodium Benchmarks and enforce them through these policies.<\/p>\n<p>The global average salt intake is estimated to be 10.8 grams per day, more than double the WHO recommendation of fewer than 5 grams of salt per day (one teaspoon).<\/p>\n<p>Eating too much salt makes it the top risk factor for diet and nutrition-related deaths.<\/p>\n<p>More evidence is emerging documenting links between high sodium intake and increased risk of other health conditions such as gastric cancer, obesity, osteoporosis, and kidney disease.<\/p>\n<p>The WHO called on Member States to implement sodium intake reduction policies immediately and mitigate the harmful effects of excessive salt consumption.<\/p>\n<p>The agency also called on food manufacturers to set ambitious sodium reduction targets in their products. \u2013&nbsp;<strong>SAnews.gov.za <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A first-of-its-kind World Health Organisation (WHO) global report on sodium intake reduction shows that the world is off-track to achieve its global target of reducing sodium intake by 30% by 2025. Sodium, according to the WHO, is an essential nutrient, which increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and premature death when eaten in excess. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":252236,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[38678],"class_list":{"0":"post-252235","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-south-africa","8":"tag-sanews","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/massive-efforts-needed-to-reduce-salt-intake-notes-report.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}