Irish men eating double their salt allowance, FSAI finds

Irish men are eating more than twice as much salt as they should be, despite lower salt content in many processed foods, new research shows.

The daily salt intake of Irish women is 70 per cent above recommended intake levels, according to the Food Safety Authority.

The authority, in an update of its annual salt monitoring programme, cites significant reductions across all food groups, including processed meats, bread, breakfast cereals and spreadable fats. Some of the biggest drops were in rashers, cooked ham and sausages.

Nonetheless, the estimated average daily salt intake is 11.1g per day in men and 8.5g in women. This compares to an internationally recommended daily intake of 5g of salt per day.

Wayne Anderson, director of food science and standards, says consumers need to read product labels on salt content and reduce the amount of salt they add themselves in cooking and at the table.

“Salt plays an important role in the diet,” Dr Anderson said, “but people in Ireland are simply eating too much of it, and this increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.

“The addition of salt at the table or in cooking by consumers can represent up to 20-30 per cent of a person’s total salt intake.”

Asked why salt intake is still high when salt content is falling in many products, the authority says an average decrease in content of a food or food category does not equate to similar drop in individual or population intake.

Consumer choices

The authority cannot sample all food all of the time, it says, and “consumers will make their own choices in terms of the specific brands they buy and consume”.

One possibility is that consumers are eating greater amounts of specific foods, such as ready meals, which tend to be higher in salt. A switch by consumers to cheaper stores that sell more high-salt products may also explain trends.

The authority ran a salt reduction programme with industry from 2003-2013, when it said the effort was no longer sustainable. Co-operation from many food firms fell away during the recession and targets were missed.

The industry has now taken over the programme, with the Food Safety Authority playing a monitoring role.