Blaby District Council is helping to reduce the UK’s salt consumption by supporting Consensus Action on Salt and Health’s (CASH’s) National Salt Awareness Week, which runs from 16th – 22nd March 2015.

During the week a salt reduction campaign is taking place at local fish and chip and kebab shops.

Shops signed up to the ‘Halt the Salt’ campaign will be offering low sodium salt to put on your chips, free taster sachets of low sodium salt, information on the health effects of too much salt and low salt shopping guides.

Salt raises our blood pressure, and as a result, thousands of people around the UK die unnecessarily each year from strokes, heart attacks and heart failure.

Current recommendations suggest we should be eating no more than 6g salt a day (about a level teaspoon), and even less for children.

Unfortunately we are all eating much more than that, including our children, putting them at increased risk of suffering from health implications later on in life.

Councillor Guy Jackson, Neighbourhood and Environmental portfolio holder at Blaby District Council said:

“We are all eating too much salt, but unfortunately not many of us realise it! This is because it is already in the food we buy or order. But eating less salt doesn’t have to be difficult; simply ask for a low sodium salt next time you eat out.”