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Food producers agree to cut salt content of crackers

Jennifer Macey reported this story on Thursday, February 21, 2013 18:45:00

TIM PALMER: It may be a staple of the backyard barbeque or the office function, but the humble cracker is about to go through a major change that will make it less salty.

Australian manufacturers have agreed to reduce the salt content of the savoury biscuits over the next three years.

The targets are voluntary and part of the Food and Health Dialogue between the Federal Government and the food industry.

But health experts say while any targets are welcome, these aren't stringent enough.

Jennifer Macey reports.

JENNIFER MACEY: The humble salt-encrusted cracker may soon be less salty. Over the next three years, manufacturers of plain crackers, rice crackers, cakes and corn cakes have agreed to a voluntary target to keep salt below 850 mg per 100 grams.

Catherine King is the parliamentary secretary for Health and Ageing.

CATHERINE KING: Crackers are quite high in salt. The very nature of them means that we expect them generally to be quite a salty product. So they do have quite a high level of salt in them.

So in essence what we're trying to do is just quietly and steadily remove large amounts of salt from the diet without people even noticing it or having to read the label.

JENNIFER MACEY: Food processors Arnott's, Kraft Foods, PepsiCo and retailers such as Woolworths, Coles, and Aldi have signed up to these latest targets under the Federal Government's Food and Health Dialogue.

CATHERINE KING: The other products that we've looked at are breads and cereals, simmer sauces, processed meats, and meat pies.

If you're a high consumer of those products, and particular brands of products that are high, it's a lot more that we've taken out of that particular person's diet.

So Australia New Zealand Food Authority have done some modelling for us, and on the categories we've done so far, that's 2,200 tonnes of salt out of the Australian diet every year.

JENNIFER MACEY: And so that equates to about 4 per cent?

CATHERINE KING: That's correct.

JENNIFER MACEY: The WHO (World Health Organisation) has recently put also a target out, and they're aiming much higher. They want to cut salt intake by 30 per cent as part of their...


JENNIFER MACEY: So 4 per cent doesn't sound like a lot.

CATHERINE KING: Well 2,200 tonnes is a fair amount of salt but you're right. There are lots of other categories that we're continuing to look at and reach agreement on, and in essence what this is trying to do is really start to drive change and innovation and reformulation across the food production market in Australia, basically so that consumers don't necessarily notice that they're even having that salt removed from their diet. It just is gone and not available to them at all.

JENNIFER MACEY: But some health experts say the targets are too weak and the process of getting manufacturers and retailers to agree is painfully slow.

Dr Jacqui Webster is the head of the food policy group at the George Institute for Global Health.

She established and implemented the UK government's salt reduction strategy in 2008.

JACQUI WEBSTER: It's just a little bit disappointing that this target is not as stringent as other targets that we've seen set, for example in the UK.

Crackers are always going to be a high-salt food, and what this target's doing is moving them from a very salty food to a slightly less salty food when actually we need to see something much more stringent than that.

At the moment we've seen about 17 targets set over the last four years. In the UK, they set 80 in just two years, and that's projected to be saving about 10,000 lives each year.

JENNIFER MACEY: Dr Webster says the link between high consumption of salt and high blood pressure has long been established.

JACQUI WEBSTER: So eating too much salt leads to an increase in blood pressure, and blood pressure is the single biggest contributor to premature death from heart attacks and stroke in Australia. So simply by reducing people's salt intake we can reduce their blood pressure.

JENNIFER MACEY: Why is it, though, the food manufacturers' responsibility? Shouldn't people be able to monitor their own salt intake?

JACQUI WEBSTER: It's really, really hard for people to monitor their own salt intake because 75 to 80 per cent of the salt that we eat is hidden in processed foods.

So it's not added during cooking or at the table. It's actually in the foods we eat, and therefore we rely on companies to take salt out of food. And frankly, they put it in there, and a lot of it is not necessary and can be taken out.

JENNIFER MACEY: The targets are voluntary but the Federal Government says those food producers who have signed up will be obliged to report to the Health Department and the Food and Health Dialogue regularly.

TIM PALMER: Jennifer Macey reporting.


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  • Salt piles at Port Hedland
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