The earlier voluntary salt reduction targets were published in March 2006 for 85 categories of food. The Agency made a commitment to review the targets in 2008 to formally assess progress and to establish what further reductions were necessary to maintain progress towards the 6g daily intake target.
FSA aimed to ensure that the revised targets are set at challenging levels that will have a real impact on consumers’ intakes, while taking into account the reductions that have already been achieved by the industry and technical and safety issues.
In setting the targets it was important to consider, and ensure that the targets reflected, the reductions that have already been achieved by industry, which include:
- The average amount of salt found in branded pre-packed, sliced bread has been reduced by around one-third.
- Reductions of about 44% have been achieved in branded breakfast cereals.
- Reductions of between 16% and 50% have been achieved in some top-selling cakes and biscuits between 2006 and 2007.
- The snack sector has been particularly active and in 2007 alone there was a 13% reduction in standard crisps, 32% in ‘extruded snacks’ and 27% in ‘pelleted snacks’. In some standard crisp ranges, average reductions in the sodium content of up to 55% have been reported.
- There have also been reductions in processed cheese products, including a range of soft white cheeses with 50% less salt for the UK market, a 32% reduction in some retail standard cheese slices, and 21% in the equivalent reduced-fat cheese slices.
- Earlier work led by the Food and Drink Federation (Project Neptune) produced reductions of about 30% in cooking and pasta sauces and 25% in soups by a range of the largest manufacturers.
The UK’s major retailers have also undertaken a significant amount of work on salt reduction and made commitments to salt reductions across a wide range of own-brand products. Some have met the 2010 targets ahead of time in most or all of their products, and one retailer is using the original 2010 targets as maximum salt levels for all relevant products.
The Agency is aware that the revised targets pose a challenge for the industry. In view of this, we appreciate and are encouraged by the continued commitment to salt reduction expressed by the industry, which cannot currently predict that the targets will be met within the proposed timescales.
Developments in food technology – including alternatives to salt and other sodium-based ingredients, manufacturing and distribution chain processes, and acceptable food safety testing – will all be necessary to ensure further progress, as will rebalancing product flavours to maintain consumer acceptability. We appreciate that in the current economic climate it may be more difficult for companies to fund such work, particularly in the short term. The Agency will therefore continue to work in partnership with stakeholders to consider the problems faced in achieving the targets and the timescales proposed, including new issues as they arise, and how these might be overcome. This will include providing ongoing support through research and dissemination of the results of research.
Spreadsheet with current and revised targets by product category
