Food firms 'to blame for children's high salt intake'

Children are eating far more salt than they should because food manufacturers are ignoring Government healthy eating standards, an independent watchdog said today.

A survey by the Food Commission found levels of salt in crisps had doubled in the past 25 years and only remained static in staples such as bread, soup and baked beans.

The findings come despite repeated claims by the large food companies, where a handful of manufacturers produce most of the nation's processed food, that they are committed to reducing salt levels in the British diet. The result of the failure is that children under seven, who should by Government recommendations eat no more than two grams of salt per day, will almost certainly go over that allowance if they eat two slices of bread with Marmite, or a small can of Heinz pasta shapes, or a Burger King children's meal.

Confusing labels with no clear recommendations on salt were also blamed for high salt intake. But manufacturers were unwilling to subscribe to a clearer "high salt" or "low salt" labelling scheme, said another group, Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash).

"Most labels just have a 'sodium' value, and then you have to multiply that by 2.5 to get the amount of salt you'll be eating in grams," said Penelope Gilbert, a nutritionist at Cash. "Then you have to know what your daily allowance is, and your children's. It's terribly confusing. And the manufacturers are reluctant to change."

At the Food Commission, research officer Kath Dalmeny said: "Eating high levels of salt is linked to high blood pressure, which is the main cause of strokes and a major factor in heart attacks – two of the most common causes of death and illness in the UK." Excess dietary salt has also been implicated in calcium loss, leading to osteoporosis.

Ms Dalmeny added: "Most people eat about twice as much salt as the recommended maximum daily level. However, it is very hard to cut back, because salt is hidden in everyday products such as bread, canned soup and baked beans."

The data were compiled from figures in an official 1978 government report, McCance & Widdowson's The Composition of Foods, and from contemporary manufacturers' labels.

But the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which represents the manufacturers, said any claims that its members had done little to reduce salt content were "out of date".

Martin Paterson, the FDF's deputy director general, said: "Bread manufacturers have reduced salt content across their product range by a quarter since the late 1980s."

An FDF spokeswoman said salt content had an important role to play in food production, including product safety and preservation of shelf life. "It also contributes to texture, flavour and taste," she said.

Steve Chandler, a spokesman for the Snack, Nuts and Crisp Manufacturers' Association (Snacma), whose seven members make 95 per cent of the £2bn worth of snacks consumed in the UK annually, said: "It's nonsense to say that salt in crisps has risen so high. If you look back at 1978, there were far fewer flavours than now. There was maybe ready salted, and salt and shake. Now you have prawn cocktail, beef flavour, salt and vinegar."

Salt was essential to bring out those artificial flavours, he said. Crisps with less salt had been released but had disappeared, he said.

He added that any adult "if they are interested in what they're giving to their children" could work out from the label of a packet of crisps how much of the daily salt allowance it contained, without reference to outside help.

"We are committed to getting salt levels down, because government advice is to eat less salt," Mr Chandler said."And savoury snacks make up less than three per cent of our total overall salt intake, according to government figures."