Salt intake in Switzerland too high owing to ready meals
Switzerland’s average salt consumption is around 75% above the recommended five grams per day, according to a study.
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Swiss men consume on average twice as much salt as recommended, at ten grams a day, while Swiss women consume an average of 7.4 grams per day, the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) said on Thursday.
Men aged 45-59 consumed the most salt, with an average of almost 11 grams per day. Women over the age of 60 consumed the least at 6.7 grams per day. Excessive salt consumption was evident across all regions of Switzerland, as shown by the Swiss Salt Study 2022-2023.
However, 90% of respondents said they never or only occasionally added salt to their food.
Processed foods to blame
Processed food was to blame for people’s excessive salt intake, with more than three-quarters of table salt consumed in this form, according to the FSVO. It said a person could consume their recommended daily salt intake from just one ready-made meal.
The FSVO conducted the study on salt consumption for the second time since 2010-2011. The average daily salt intake of Swiss adults has fallen slightly since the first study to 8.7 grams. However, it is still around 75% higher than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended maximum daily intake of five grams.
Adapted from German by DeepL/kp/ts
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