Excess Salt; It’s like a Commuter Jet Crashing Every Day

Suppose you were given this choice, early death from heart attack or stroke, or decreasing the amount of salt in your diet. It would be an easy decision for most people. But decreasing the amount of salt is easier said than done. Today, most packaged foods are loaded with salt. This situation won’t change as long as companies believe consumers are dumb bunnies and can’t read labels.

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Why do North Americans consume so much salt? Food manufacturers recently told a government committee the public is to blame. They claim we crave salt and won’t compromise on taste by accepting lesser amounts. But this is nonsense. In 2004 The English Standards Agency launched a major health campaign, called “Know Your Numbers.” It was an effort to alert consumers that they only need 1,500 milligrams (mg) of salt daily. Not the 4,000 mg that most people consume. It worked, and now there’s a significant reduction in the amount of salt consumed in Britain. Finland has had an aggressive campaign to limit salt intake for the last 30 years. Salt consumption has decreased there by 35 percent, resulting in an 80 percent decrease in the risk of stroke. Stephen Havas, professor of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at the University of Maryland, says the number of deaths from excess salt is equivalent to a commuter jet crashing every day in the U.S. And that people should be outraged. Today, high blood pressure is the leading cause of death in the world. It’s estimated that 25 percent of North Americans have hypertension. Studies show that one out of two Canadians over age 65 is hypertensive. In the U.S. the Framingham Heart Study revealed that at age 75, nine out of ten people have high blood pressure. And if hypertension is present, you have 3X the risk of dying from heart attack and stroke. Hypertension is like putting too much air in a tire. Blood vessels in the brain rupture causing a stroke. The heart also has to work harder to pump blood to all parts of the body. This is why heart failure is now one of the leading causes of death in this country. Like a tired horse, the overworked heart finally fails. Salt is easy to ingest without knowing it. For instance, Tim Horton’s chicken noodle soup has 880 mg of salt, McDonald’s quarter pounder with cheese 1,100 mg, Swiss Chalet chicken pot pie 1,420, a ham and cheese sandwich with mustard 2,340 and a Rueben sandwich 3,270. Fortunately, McDonald’s and other fast food chains now have fruit salads that contain a mere 60 and 80 mg of salt. To decrease your salt intake you must learn to be a smart consumer. Read labels. For instance, most soups contain 800 to 1,000 mg of salt. But if you look at Loblaw’s President’s Choice Blue Menu soups, they contain 400 mg. I recently had three thin slices of salami for lunch and was surprised to read that I’d just eaten 810 mg of salt. Next time I’ll purchase President’s Choice Blue Menu uncured turkey breast that has only 60 mg in three slices. If you pick up the wrong salad dressing, two tablespoons can add 500 mg of salt to your salad. Compare this with President’s Choice Blue Menu Mango Vinaigrette with a mere 10 mg. So the next time you shop, take time to compare Loblaw’s President’s Choice selections with other brands. You will be amazed at the different amounts of salt present. Hypertension is a silent killer as you’re unable to see or feel its presence. The only way to diagnose this disease is to see your doctor for regular checkups. For the food industry to say that North American consumers are not health conscious and unwilling to accept less salt in manufactured foods is an arrogant assumption. But you can bet your last dollar that food manufacturers will use every stalling tactic possible to delay salt reduction in packaged foods. The solution? Consumers must “Know the Salt Numbers.” And health authorities should give food companies a deadline to remove excessive salt. A commuter jet crashing every day would command attention.