FSA and Department of Health joint statement on industry salt reduction progress: July 2005

Since February 2004:

• Officials have met or had contact with 69 key food industry organisations across all sectors on salt reduction
• 52 written commitments to salt reduction work have been received from a range of organisations across all sectors of the food industry

Salt reduction remains a priority for Government, as outlined in the White Paper on Public Health and the Food and Health Action Plan for England, and the nutrition action plans for Scotland and Wales and that under preparation in Northern Ireland. The Food Standards Agency's Strategic Plan for 2005 - 2010 confirms the commitment to work with industry to reduce the average salt intake of the population to 6g/person/day by 2010.

The FSA and Department of Health (DH) are continuing to meet with key organisations with the food industry, and other interested parties, to monitor and track developments as they occur.

The next stage of the programme of work with industry will include the following:

• Obtaining long-term plans with specific measurable step wise commitments to salt reductions capable of delivering the Government's target of 6g average daily intake by 2010; and securing clear data from all relevant organisations to ensure that salt reduction claims can be verified
• Focusing on securing further salt reductions in both the cereal and meat product categories (these make the biggest contributions to adult salt intakes in the UK)
• Developing a clear programme of work for the catering sector, including specific guidelines for salt reduction, in consultation with key stakeholders

In the meantime, the programme of meetings will continue to involve all sectors of the food industry and is likely to have two key purposes:

• to meet with those key players who we have not already met with and who have not submitted plans
• to meet with those who manufacture and/or are responsible for those foods that are major contributors to salt intake (cereals and cereal products; meat products; ready meals, pizzas, sandwiches, soups, pies)

Additional meetings will also be set up with other organisations to follow up commitments once these have been received.

The Agency has been working to set targets for key product categories and develop a five-year framework for self-reporting by industry organisations, in consultation with key stakeholders.

The intention is to set targets at levels that will make a difference to intakes but will also be achievable by the food industry.

A stakeholder group, made up of industry and consumer representatives as well as officials, and discussions with sector specific interest groups helped develop draft targets for wider consultation. The three-month public consultation will be launched in August 2005.

The FSA and DH will monitor changes in salt levels both in terms of intake and levels in products. The National Diet and Nutrition Survey and the Health Survey for England will be used to assess changes in intake. Work is under way to establish additional monitoring mechanisms in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In order to track the progress of reformulation work, the Agency has commissioned the setting up of a databank of processed food products. The databank will consist of an extensive range of processed food products, including branded and supermarket own-label products, listing their nutrient content. As well as salt (sodium) this will also cover fat and sugar to inform future work in these areas. Data will be collected from product labels. It is envisaged that data collection will be repeated annually for the next two years, with the first data collection now having been completed. It is anticipated that the first year's results will be published in the autumn.

A range of 'mini surveys' will continue to be published over the next few years to provide data on the levels of salt (sodium) and a limited range of other nutrients in processed foods. In addition, the Agency's annual Consumer Attitudes Survey monitors the proportion of respondents who are concerned about salt and those who have taken action to change their salt intake.

In September 2004, the Agency launched a high profile consumer awareness campaign on salt. The Agency's tracking research is now showing a steady increase in the number of people recognising that they might have a problem with too much salt in their diet and are now trying to cut down. Between August 2004 and January 2005:

• there has been a 32% increase in people claiming to be making a special effort to cut down on salt
• there has been a 31% increase in those who look at labelling to find out salt content
• there has been a 27% increase in those who say that salt content would affect their decision to buy a product 'all of the time'

The Agency is now planning the second phase of the campaign. A range of activity is ongoing to encourage stakeholders to be part of the campaign.

SACN advice and targets
Following the publication of the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) report on Salt and Health in May 2003, the Government set a target to reduce the salt consumption of the population from 9.5g to an average of 6g a day by 2010.

February 2004 plans
At the Salt Stakeholder meeting in November 2003, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Public Health Melanie Johnson requested that organisations present write to her by February 2004 outlining what they were doing to reduce salt in food. A total of forty-four plans were received from a mixture of manufacturers, retailers and trade associations, procurement bodies, voluntary organisations and academic institutions.

A key feature of the plans was industry's claims to have made significant salt reductions to date. Some of the claims that can be verified include:

• a 16% reduction in branded breakfast cereal products between 1998 and 2002
• a 25% reduction in sodium levels in potato crisps in the last 10 years (1994-2004)
• Heinz making reductions of between 11% and 18% across its product range in 2003

The plans received indicated a high awareness of salt as an issue within these groups. Reduction programmes were taking place on a broad front with action at different stages between different companies and sectors. Progress had been made in the retail sector with some manufacturers also doing well. The catering sector showed more limited activity. Public procurement bodies had stated their commitment to addressing this issue with the potential to be a big positive influence on the service catering sector (e.g. schools, hospitals etc).

Since February, the FSA and DH have undertaken a programme of follow up work with key organisations, including trade associations, retailers, caterers, manufacturers and those involved with public procurement. The aim is to establish effective one-to-one working relationships, better understand the needs of different sectors and players, consolidate initial progress, and to negotiate specific measurable commitments to salt reductions capable of delivering the Agency's target of 6g daily intake by 2010. The industry has indicated that it welcomes this interactive approach with the Agency and is generally positive about the potential for further reductions over time.

In her response to industry in June, Melanie Johnson expressed disappointment in the substance of the plans in terms of the magnitude of the proposed reductions, product coverage and information on product specific reductions over time. She asked for revised plans by 18 September 2004.

Over the past six months, a number of new commitments have been received.

• Marks & Spencer's new five year plan sets the benchmark for the retailers. Other major retailers, such as Sainsbury, Asda, Tesco and Waitrose, have submitted plans and are reviewing progress. Morrisons has yet to submit a plan but met with FSA officials recently and has indicated that work is under way.
• Heinz has substantially reduced the salt content of various products, including baked beans, which are now in line with the FSA salt model target average values. Unilever has committed to all Birds Eye ready meals containing under 2g of salt per portion. Both organisations are involved in Project Neptune, an initiative organised by the FDF that aims to reduce the salt content of both soups and sauces by 30% overall over three years from 2003, in approximately equal steps of 10% each year (2003, 2004, 2005).
• The meat trade bodies have established upper maximum levels for eight product categories and have agreed to also establish targets for bacon and ham and review progress. Northern Foods has committed to reductions of between 30% and 40% across a range of meat products.
• The Association of Cereal Food Manufacturers (which represents all major breakfast cereal producers) has agreed to a further 10% reduction across all cereal products in 2005. On top of this, Kellogg's has announced a 20% reduction in some brands, including Cornflakes and Frosties.
• The Federation of Bakers has announced that it has achieved a 5% reduction in 2004 and is considering establishing an upper maximum level this year to be achieved gradually over the next five years.
• The catering sector is more diverse and the FSA is currently further developing its strategy for working with this sector. However, to date the four main contract caterers (Aramark, Avenance, Compass and Sodexho) have committed to developing salt reduction programmes; McDonalds and Burger King have each made significant reductions; and we are holding discussions with many other organisations, including Whitbread and Mitchell & Butler, which are considering putting programmes in place across their chains.
• Companies that provide foods to caterers are also important, and, as such, 3663 has committed to reducing the salt content of its own brand products by 50% over the next 18 months to 2 years.

Meetings with retailers
Recognising the important contribution of the food retailers to this work, Melanie Johnson and Sir John Krebs jointly held a series of meetings with major retailers in December 2004 to discuss their work on salt reduction.

Letters were sent to all organisations with whom the Agency and DH have interacted on salt reduction in February 2005. These emphasised the importance of working closely with industry to achieve salt reductions; and requesting updates on progress and revised plans. A total of 21 submissions were received, eight of which were revised plans giving some additional commitment (the rest re-stated the commitments outlined in previous submissions).

DH has commissioned the Faculty of Public Health, in association with the National Heart Forum, to produce a hypertension toolkit for use by health professionals. This was launched at the end of May 2005 and highlights the impact of salt in the diet on hypertension and provide health professionals with practical tips and advice they can pass on to patients.