Big manufacturers named and shamed for salt-reduction compliance

Salt levels in bread and breakfast cereals have improved but processed meats still have a long way to go, according to the Australian Government’s Food and Health Dialogue.

The George Institute for Global Health has been monitored salt levels in more than 15,000 supermarket products to determine whether food manufacturers are meeting sodium-reduction targets.

“A number of bakers have made great progress towards meeting the salt targets they agreed with government,” said Professor Bruce Neal of the George Institute and the University of Sydney, who led the study into sodium-reduction target compliance.

“Coles and Woolworths, for example, got all their breads down to the target. Goodman Fielder isn’t quite there yet but it made really significant improvements, from 30% rising to 65% now at target.”

The proportion of breads meeting the sodium target of 400 mg/100 g increased from 42 to 67% of breads on the market. Bread is the main source of salt for Australian consumers.

Average salt levels in breakfast cereals fell from 316 mg/100 g to 237 mg/100 g.

“Kellogg’s have made significant improvements but there are still some pretty salty products out there because this was a soft target,” said Professor Neal. “The breakfast cereal industry was pretty clever about what it agreed to, and government should have taken a firmer stand. But it’s certainly progress.”

However, processed meat products haven’t seen the same positive changes. While the proportion of products meeting the target has increased to 47%, many products still contain too much salt, the study shows.

“Modest progress was made by most companies in this challenging category but it was disappointing to find the largest processed meat manufacturer, Primo Smallgoods, appeared to have gone back on their commitment,” said Helen Trevena, a co-author of the study.

“It’s unclear why, but as far as we can tell the proportion of products meeting target was less in 2013 than it was in 2010.”

Professor Neal says the salt-reduction target initiative needs to be strengthened.

“These results show that if government pushes, industry will act. But we need stronger government engagement - more food categories covered and a long-term strategy with more ambitious target-setting,” he said.