SALT ASSOCIATION WELCOMES NEW STUDY WHICH FINDS NO EVIDENCE OF LINK BETWEEN SALT AND HEART DISEASE

The Salt Association has welcomed new research which seriously undermines the UK Government’s policy on salt by concluding that there is no evidence that it is bad for you.

[UKPRwire, Thu Nov 08 2007] The Salt Association has welcomed new research which seriously undermines the UK Government’s policy on salt by concluding that there is no evidence that it is bad for you.

The review of medical evidence on salt, by Dr Joel Dunning (a specialist registrar at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough and a member of the European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgeons Audit & Guidelines Committee) and his team, studied 462 research papers from around the world and found no conclusive proof of a link between salt and heart attacks and strokes.

A spokesperson for the Salt Association today (5 November 2007) said: “We welcome this study which calls into question Government guidelines on salt and says that the evidence that salt is bad for you is non-existent.

“This review supports what the Salt Association has been saying for a long time: that there is no sound scientific evidence to show that salt consumption poses a risk to those who do not already suffer from high blood pressure.

“Dr Dunning and his team have made a very clear case for proper randomised trials. You could not introduce a new drug without trials which demonstrate that your science is sound – the UK population have a right to expect the same rigour when it comes to advice on our diet.

“Our concern is that the Government’s blanket advice on salt reduction to a daily intake of no more than 6g may be dangerous for some groups in society, including the elderly, those who exercise heavily and to pregnant women.

“The amount of salt we need – and can consume without any problems – depends on a variety of factors, including our physical activity, age and general health. For the vast majority of us, there is absolutely no proof that the dietary salt in a typical Western diet has any significant effect on our blood pressure.

“There is now a growing group of independent medical and nutritional experts from around the world who argue that a population-wide salt reduction policy will only have benefits for those who already have high blood pressure – and could actually put many others at risk. This review provides even more weight to that argument.”

Earlier this year, Dr David McCarron, an internationally recognised and independent authority on the role of diet in heart disease, warned that the UK population is being put at risk by the Government’s scientifically-unfounded blanket advice to cut back on salt and that the UK Government’s policy on salt “could prove to be the next major public health disaster”.

He said that public health policy on salt has been based on results extrapolated from studies that were set up to look at other factors. He added that the UK’s current “obsession” with salt is “irrelevant” and that the real challenge in tackling high blood pressure is to improve overall dietary quality, with mineral deficiency being a much more significant cause of high blood pressure.


Ends
Media contact
Susan Tolman, Daybreak Communications 0845 644 3845 mob 07786 543430, e-mail susan.tolman@daybreakcomm.co.uk
Notes to editors
• The Salt Association is the trade association representing UK manufacturers of salt, including domestic salt, catering salt, water-softening salt, industrial salt and de-icing salt.
• For further information on the Salt Association's stance on salt and health, please visit the press office at www.saltsense.co.uk The media resources available there also include downloadable photographs.

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