2016

The Costa Rica Food Industry Chamber (CACIA) has agreed to reduce average salt levels in their products by 15% over the next 2 years. The agreement includes a list of foods that will be made with less salt by 2018:

 

CATEGORY	SUB CATEGORY	SODIUM (mg/100g)	NATIONAL GOAL	% REDUCTION
Cookies/Crackers	Crackers	1.185	1.066	10%
	Filled crackers	1.235	1.111	10%
	Cookies	912	485	47%
	Sandwich cookies	652	485	26%
Bread	Baguette	640	500	22%
	Semi sweet bread	667	500	25%
	Sweet bread	667	500	25%
	Whole wheat bread	697	500	28%
	Cheese-stuffed bread	634	550	13%
Charcuterie	Hot dogs	1.345	1.235	8%
	Sausage	1.55	1.425	8%
	Boloney	1.385	1.282	7%
	Ham	1.95	1.805	7%
Bakery	Cake	600	512	15%
	Non fermented pastry	750	670	11%
	Non stuffed pastry	670	580	13%
Sauces	Worcestershire	2.5	2.25	10%
	Ketchup	1.1	990	10%
	Tomato sauce	684	616	10%
	Tomato puree	636	572	10%
Other	Condiments for meat / fish	25.4	23	10%
	Beef consomme (bouillon cubes/soup)	26.4	20.5	22%

Source: Health Ministry and CACIA

 

2012

An article evaluating the progress and challenges of the National Plan to Reduce Public Consumption of Salt/Sodium in Costa Rica 2011-2021 states that in 2010 hypertension affected 37.8% of the national population and that in 2001 the average population intake of table salt alone was 7.1g/day. An aim of the National Plan is to determine baseline intake of salt, the primary sources of salt, and knowledge and attitudes and behaviours of the population with regard to salt.

In 2012, as part of the National Plan the Ministries of Education and Health implemented a decree that limits the sales of food with high fat, sugar, salt and caloric content to educational institutions. A study conducted in 2010-2011 found that the majority of Costa Rican adults could not differentiate between salt and sodium and could not explain the relationship between salt and diseases such as hypertension. Several other projects are under way which will aim to identify processed and fast food with high sodium content, establish priorities for negotiation with the food industry and effectively evaluate the National Plan, among other outcomes.

A major challenge of the Plan is that there are not enough resources to support implementation of the Plan and so urinary sodium excretion is unlikely to be measured.

To view full article, please click here.

 

2011

The National Plan for salt consumption reduction was launched on the 19th May 2011.  The launch, organized by the Ministry of Health of Costa Rica and the Costa Rican Institute of Research and Teaching in Nutrition and Health (INCIENSA) was sponsored by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Latin-American Society of Nephrology and Hypertension (SLANH). 

The Plan responds to national needs and international commitments.  Since 1970 cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been noted as the leading cause of death (33%) in men and women. In 2010 the prevalence of hypertension was 32.5% and 25% pre-hypertensive.  Salt added to food is the major factor increasing blood pressure of normotensive individuals and hypertensive’s, whether adults or children.  A diet high in salt increases the risk of left ventricular hypertrophy and renal damage.  Salt has also been associated as a determinant of gastric cancer, osteoporosis, kidney stones, increased severity of asthma and childhood and adolescent obesity.

In November 2009 the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) established the Regional Expert Group and released the "Statement of Policy to Reduce Salt in the Americas." The statement set a goal, a gradual and sustained reduction in salt intake in the diet to reach the recommended goal (5 g sodium salt or 2 g / day / person). Costa Rica joined the effort to engage with the OPS to support the policy statement and to formulate the National Plan for Reducing Salt and Sodium Intake in Population 2011-2021. Other recent international commitments are undertaken in the Health Plan 2010-2015 and the Dominican Republic, have a national policy on food and nutrition security and regulate the sodium in foods consumed by the population (COMISCA, 2009). The National Policy on Food Security and Nutrition, launched earlier this week by the Ministry of Health, includes guidelines for reducing salt and sodium intake in the population.

The Ministry of Health and INCENSA coordinated the formulation and validation of the National Plan for Reducing Salt and Sodium Intake for the Population of Costa Rica, with the participation of various stakeholders involved.

The aims of the National Plan are to achieve a reduction in salt in the population and the sodium content in processed and prepared foods, to achieve the WHO recommendation (5 g sodium salt or 2 g / person / day) and thus reduce morbidity and mortality attributable to hypertension, cardiovascular disease and related disorders in Costa Rica.

The President of the SLANH, Dr. Ricardo Correa Rotter, a member of the Group of Experts of the PAHO Initiative and chief of the Department of Mineral Metabolism and Nephrology, National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition, Salvador Zubirán, will deliver the keynote address indicated on the attached program.

Click here to link through to the INCENSA website to view documents

**please note the above has been translated from the original Spanish text