A region once famed for its sweet tooth, new data today exposes a staggering number of people in Manchester and the North West have a deadly ‘salt tooth’ instead.
Released to mark Salt Awareness Week (15th – 21st May), the first of its kind research commissioned by health campaigners, Season With Sense, reveals that, in the North West, a surprising number of us admit to having a ‘salt tooth’ (44%) rather than the more infamous ‘sweet tooth’ (56%).
Shockingly, despite the North West’s apparent love of salt, 9 out of 10 people3 still don’t know the maximum recommended intake of salt is 6g per day.
Instead, a person living in the UK’s average daily intake is 8.4g, which is of major concern as excess salt leads to hypertension and high blood pressure, significantly increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke.
In fact, excess dietary salt is one of the most important modifiable risk factors for high blood pressure.
For every 1g of salt cut from the average daily UK diet there would be an estimated 4,147 fewer premature deaths, saving the NHS £288 million each year.
Launching for Salt Awareness Week, Season With Sense is calling on Brits to take part in its ‘Stick to Six’ challenge, which invites participants to begin monitoring their salt intake, just like they would calories, fat or sugar.
Public health advocate and Season With Sense campaigner, Dr Sarah Jarvis, said:
“When it comes to talking about what we eat and its impact on our health, sugar is regularly at the forefront of our minds. It may come as a surprise then, that it’s excess salt we really need to tackle.
“This new data paints a worrying picture about the North West’s relationship with salt and that millions of us who are putting ourselves at increased risk of heart attack and stroke on a daily basis.
“The good news is the power is in our hands to change that – and through small, simple changes like tracking our salt intake we can really get to grips with curbing a deadly hidden habit like the ‘salt tooth’.
