The Sapiens Health Foundation has welcomed the Tamil Nadu Government’s announcement of a salt reduction campaign in the Assembly on Tuesday.
Reducing salt intake could help lower the burden of hypertension, stroke, heart attacks and kidney disease. In a press release, the foundation cited the UK’s salt-reduction campaign, initiated in 2005 by Graham MacGregor of the World Action on Salt, Sugar and Health (WASSH), which resulted in a reported 30% reduction in salt in bread.
The Foundation’s salt-reduction campaign began in 2010 with a walkathon at Marina Beach, followed by similar events in Tiruchi and Puducherry and awareness programmes in colleges. In 2014, its founder-chairman Rajan Ravichandran received the Notable Achievement Award from the World Hypertension League for the campaign.
The Foundation has written to more than 300 food manufacturers seeking reductions in salt content and cited reductions in salt in noodles by Nestlé and Hindustan Lever as examples of industry response. It also organised international conferences on salt and health with IIT-Madras and IIT-Bombay in 2017.
The Foundation has conducted salt and health workshops for more than 500 physicians in Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and Vijayawada. It also welcomed the growing focus on front-of-pack food labelling and said the State’s decision to take forward the campaign will be an important step towards improving population health.
