Halt the salt

1:12pm Thursday 15th February 2007

CHINESE restaurants look set to get healthier in Buckinghamshire as they try to reduce salt levels in their dishes.

Restaurants from all over the county will be working in partnership with Trading Standards on a campaign called Halt the Salt', which coincides with the Chinese New Year on February 18.

Whilst eating in restaurants customers will now be able to ask chefs not to add salt to their food, making meals healthier.

Many restaurants will also be displaying Halt the Salt' promotional material to make customers aware that they are taking part.

The recommended salt intake for an adult per day is 6g, which is equivalent to one teaspoon. However according to Trading Standards the average amount of salt an adult consumes a day is usually between nine and 12g a day.

Margaret Dewar, community services portfolio holder at Buckinghamshire County Council, is thrilled by the news and wants to improve people's health by reducing their salt intake.

She said: "We are pleased to work in partnership with the Buckinghamshire Chinese Association and the Chinese community. Consumers are being made aware of the health implications of having too much salt.

"For future wellbeing it is important we all reduce the amount of salt we consume."

Salt is often associated with high blood pressure and strokes in later life, according to a study conducted by the Consensus Action on Salt Health (CASH).

By adults reducing their salt consumption, CASH said that 35,000 lives a year could be saved.

Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at St George's University of London, has praised the campaign.

He said: "I am very pleased that this salt awareness campaign will draw particular attention to the importance of food outlets not adding too much salt to food.

"Salt is the most important cause of raised blood pressure and raised blood pressure is the most important factor in causing strokes and heart attacks, the commonest causes of death and disability in the world."