The global average salt consumption is more than double (10.8g/day) the recommendation set by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Excess salt consumption has long been shown to raise our blood pressure and increase our risk of cardiovascular diseases, which are the leading causes of death worldwide.  In fact, it's estimated that approximately 2 million deaths each year are associated with a high salt diet alone.

For many of us around the world, much of the salt in our diets is already in the foods we buy, and therefore strong government action is required to drive down salt levels in processed and packaged foods.

However, there are also a number of things we can all do in our daily lives to help reduce our salt intakes and better our health. This Salt Awareness Week let's remind ourselves of the harmful effects of eating too much salt and bring attention to the unnecessarily high levels of salt in everyday foods. We encourage the public to play their part and make simple changes to their eating and purchasing habits, and will be providing 5 ways to 5 grams – which are 5 simple actions you can take to bring your salt intake down.

How will you get involved? 

Help us to spread the word about salt and its effects on health by organising your own event with your government or your community, write to your health minister to ask what action they will take on salt, write to your favourite food brands and ask if they will reduce salt levels, or even send out a press release. 

You can access online educational resources and our new '5 ways to 5 grams' poster via the resources section of our website.