Officials at the Grey Bruce Health Unit are pleased that Canada is moving forward with a national strategy to reduce our consumption of salt.
Linda Bumstead is Manager of Health Promotion at the health unit and says the excessive consumption of salt is a major health concern not just here in Grey Bruce but right across the country.
She says 85 per cent of men are taking in much more salt than the recommend level and what’s even more disturbing is that 93 per cent of children are consuming more than the recommended level of sodium.
Bumstead says the goal of the Sodium Reduction Strategy is to lower sodium intake for as many people as possible to 2300 milligrams by 2016.
She says its estimated that the average sodium intake per person per day from all sources now exceeds 3400 milligrams, and the majority of that comes from processed foods.
Bumstead says excessive consumption of salt contributes to high blood pressure, heart disease and kidney disease.
She says the good news is many of the companies producing the food we eat are moving towards reducing the amount of salt in their products.
Bumstead says her only concern is that the price for those products may increase and that would bad news for consumers.
