Every year, 2500 deaths from cardiovascular diseases in the Netherlands can be traced back to the overconsumption of salt. This is apparent from research by the Nutrition Centre, the Netherlands Heart Foundation and Wageningen University (WU). This makes salt a greater risk to public health than is thought.
Too much salt increases the risk of high blood pressure and therefore on cardiovascular and kidney diseases. The average Dutch person eats nine to ten grams of salt a day, while the limit of six grams should not be exceeded. Most salt is in processed products, such as ready meals, pizzas, soups, sauces and savory snacks † Consumption of too much salt often goes unnoticed with these products.
When manufacturers add less salt to their products , that could save about 2,500 deaths per year. The Nutrition Center, the Netherlands Heart Foundation and Wageningen University are calling on manufacturers to also state the salt content on the labels of foods, so that consumers can see how much salt products contain.
The organizations also ask for attention to the salt problem by declaring the first week of February as 'salt week' † They join the initiative of the World Action on Salt and Health (WASH), which draws worldwide attention to the theme in the first week of February.
You can also watch your salt consumption yourself! Read tips to eat less salt here >
