The UK is widely acknowledged to be leading the world in salt reduction and companies are working to specific voluntary guidelines set by Government. Compared to 8 years ago, FDF member products now provide 24% less salt into the average shopping basket[1].
Public Health England has published challenging new voluntary salt targets, be achieved by 2024 for retail and out of home sectors. While manufacturers are continuing to work on salt reductions, they are now finding reductions harder to achieve without compromising product safety or jeopardising taste, texture or shelf-life.
Much of the progress has been undertaken in key sectors such as bread, biscuits & cakes, breakfast cereals, soups & sauces, crisps & savoury snacks. (See revised PHE progress report).
Average salt intakes are decreasing, but still exceed the recommended intake of 6 g/day. Adult intakes are approximately 8.4g/day (2020), representing around a 10% decrease over the past decade.
[1] Kantar Worldpanel Take Home data for FDF members, total nutrient volumes in 2022 vs 2015
Case Study: Innovation for healthier diets case studies
Food and drink manufacturers are dedicated to playing their part to improve the nation’s health. Companies continue to take bold steps to provide healthier options for our much-loved brands by changing recipes, creating new healthier products, and adjusting portion sizes.
Find out moreUpdates & milestones
FDF Scotland's reformulation for health team develop new sodium reduction suppliers database
The FDF Scotland Reformulation for Health team has developed a database of sodium reduction suppliers. This will enable you to find a range of suppliers to find the best solution for reducing sodium in your product.
UK food and drink manufacturers driving change to support the health of the nation
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF), has released new data from Kantar Worldpanel showing that FDF member products contribute 13% fewer calories, 15% fewer sugars and 24% less salt to the average shopping basket than they did eight years ago[1].
The data shows that the average UK shopping basket has become healthier within recent years[2] and that the FDF's largest companies have managed to achieve improvements on nutrition which are around four times that of smaller companies [3]. This demonstrates that more support is needed to help smaller businesses reformulate.
More information can be found in the press release.
The new data has been featured by the following media:
[1] Kantar Worldpanel Take Home data for FDF members, total nutrient volumes in 2022 vs 2015
[2] There has been a 9% reduction in the overall Nutrient Profile Model score for the total food and drink market since 2018 - Kantar Worldpanel Take Home data for Total Food and Drink market, Nutrient Profile Model Score 2022 vs 2018
[3] FDF’s largest companies have on average reduced the Nutrient profile Model score of their products by 11%, which is nearly four times the reduction achieved by our wider membership - Kantar Worldpanel Take Home data for FDF President’s committee members, Nutrient Profile Model Score 2022 vs 2018
Salt awareness events
Salt Awareness Week – do you have it in your diary?
From the 14th to the 20th of March, the food industry and beyond will be getting up close and personal with Sodium Chloride.
The UK food industry has made incredible advances in salt reduction, but new industry pressures such as sales restrictions on products deemed High in Fat, Sugar and Salt (HFSS) coming in to play this year, we expect to see a new wave of salt focussed reformulation.
With this in mind, do you have the information you need about salt’s role in food, and how to reduce it? If not, don’t worry! The Reformulation for Health team at FDF Scotland have got you covered:
✔️ Listen to our Sodium reduction solutions webinar which took place on the 17th March to learn about salt’s place in public health, and methods of salt reduction using alternative ingredients.
✔️ Tune in to our “Sodium solutions” podcast to hear about some of the salt and sodium reduction projects we are supporting. You can access the podcast on our podcasts page, or via your usual podcast provider: search for “Food and Drink Federation Scotland” and subscribe to our channel to be notified when our podcast is available.
✔️ Don't forget to register for the new Reformulation for Health newsletter via our webpage.
✔️ We have a network of ingredient suppliers who can help with salt reduction, from seaweed, flavour enhancers, to low sodium salt blends. Scottish manufacturers can get in touch for free reformulation support.
Future Milestones
2024 - OHID first year progress report of 2024 salt targets
2025 - OHID final year progress report of 2024 salt targets
Urinary sodium survey results for England
National Diet and Nutrition Survey: Assessment of salt intake from urinary sodium in adults (aged 19 to 64 years) in England, 2018 to 2019.
Potassium-based sodium replacers
Assessment of the health benefits and risks of using potassium-based sodium replacers in foods in the UK.
Salt targets
Targets for levels of salt in food products and drinks, part of Pubil Health England's reduction and reformulation programme.
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Report: Celebrating Food and Nutrition Report 2023
11 September 2023
The FDF and our members are committed to developing healthier products and have made substantial progress to date. This is not straightforward but is one of the most important measures food producers can take to improve the nations' health.
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