Salt, just like sugar, is an inexpensive way to make food taste good.  One often observes people sprinkling salt over their food before tasting it, and some researchers suggest that the high consumption of salt is a habit, or even an addiction, learnt in childhood.  Many popular foods and snacks such as potato crisps, pretzels, nuts, and popcorn are flavoured with lots of salt.  Throughout the ages salt has been used as a preservative and high quantities of salt are still found in some foods for this reason, such as processed meat products.  The intake of salt is vital for certain chemical processes in the human body, but is too much salt, like too much sugar, necessarily bad for you?

Regulations relating to the reduction of sodium in certain foodstuffs came into effect on 30 June 2016.  Further reductions in the sodium content of these same foodstuffs will come into effect on 30 June 2019.  (The Department of Health published these regulations in the Government Gazette of 20 March 2013.) The following foodstuffs are affected, with the maximum total sodium (salt) per 100g indicated: Bread 400 mg. All breakfast cereals and porridges 500 mg. All fat spreads and butter spreads 550 mg. Ready to eat savoury snacks 800 mg. Flavoured potato crisps 650 mg. Flavoured ready to eat savoury snacks and potoato crisps – salt and vinegar flavor 1000 mg. Processed meat – uncured 850 mg. Processed meat – cured