WHO urges European nations to ban high-salt foods

Geneva, May 15 (Prensa Latina) The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday urged European countries to set legal limits on the amount of salt in manufactured foods, restaurants and canteens in a suite of recommendations to stop excessive intake and cut rates of heart diseases, which could save nearly 900,000 lives.

May 15, 2024
17:52

According to WHO, cardiovascular diseases, such as strokes and heart attacks, cause 42.5% of all deaths annually in the WHO European Region, or around 10,000every day.

Who explained that one of major factors causing heart attacks and strokes is the high consumption of salt, which increases blood pressure.

It also warned that most of European people “consume too much salt”, and that “more than one in three adults between 30 and 79 years of age suffer from hypertension”.

In this context, WHO pointed out that men are almost 2.5 times more likely to die of stroke and heart disease than women.

According to Hans Kluge, WHO Director for Europe, “implementing specific policies to reduce salt consumption by 25% could save approximately 900,000 lives from cardiovascular diseases by 2030”.

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