‘Stealth health’ may account for decline in low salt label claims

03-Sep-2012 - Last updated on 04-Sep-2012 at 10:29 GMT

European food manufacturers are embracing ‘stealth health’ when it comes to salt reduction, according to International Programme Lead for World Action on Salt and Health (WASH) Clare Farrand.

Unless an individual has a specific health condition for which they have been advised to reduce their salt consumption, it may not be beneficial for them to know that a food manufacturer has slashed salt levels in their favourite foods, Farrand told FoodNavigator, and manufacturers are beginning to realise this.

Her comments come after a Mintel study found that global low, no and reduced salt claims have declined in recent years, with 5% fewer products carrying such claims last year. The market researcher also found that just 22% of UK consumers said that they had bought low salt foods in 2011.

“That doesn’t mean that the products they purchased weren’t low in salt,” Farrand said. “I think it is more to do with the health claim than anything else …We don’t necessarily tell a consumer. You can reduce the amount of salt by about 20% over 6 weeks and you won’t necessarily notice it.”

Level playing field

She said that in the UK, food companies and brands have worked to share salt reduction technologies and create a level playing field across all companies working in a category. This means that industry, rather than the consumer, drives down overall salt consumption in a population. This is important because, when faced with a lower salt product and a product with a salt level to which they have become accustomed, consumers will tend to choose the higher salt product, she said.

“I think companies have started to realise that because we are reducing the amount of salt in all foods across categories, there is no need to highlight it on their labels.”

In fact, touting ‘low salt’ on the front of a product’s packaging may actually reduce sales, as consumers could expect a reduced salt product to have less flavour.

Traffic light labelling

Rather than advertising salt reduction efforts on a product-by-product basis, Farrand suggests that more widespread traffic light labelling could be more effective in steering consumers toward lower salt options.

“It is not saying that this product is different from the original product, but just that this is the amount of salt this product contains,” she said.

Sharing technologies

Apart from the flavour aspect, salt also has important technical functions in many foods, including as a preservative, and as a modulator of leavening agents in baked goods.

“There are obviously a lot of technical barriers to reducing salt in some products,” said Farrand. “What we would like to see is that when companies are managing to find ways to reduce salt that they share these technologies in the interest of public health.

“We are working with industry at the moment [to try and do this].”