WHO urges countries to ban high-salt foods – POLITICO

Cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes and heart attacks, cause 42.5 percent of all deaths annually in the WHO European Region — or around 10,000 deaths every day. Over half of the deaths are attributable to hypertension.

In the same report, the United Nations body also called for mandatory front-of-pack labels to support consumers in making informed and healthier food choices, and pressed countries to run public awareness campaigns to support behaviour change to reduce salt consumption in the population.

Under current EU rules, the indication of nutritional information on the front of a food pack is voluntary. The European Commission tried to introduce EU-wide mandatory front-of-pack labeling in 2022, but the proposal sparked a fierce lobbying battle as countries pushed for rival systems. It eventually fell off the radar and many consider the proposal dead.

“Implementing targeted policies to reduce salt intake by 25% could save an estimated 900,000 lives from CVDs by 2030,” Hans Kluge, WHO regional director for Europe, said in a statement.

The report, published during Salt Awareness Week, calls for an integrated approach to reduce salt intake and better diagnose, treat and control hypertension.