ABSTRACT
There is a clear evidence that current high salt intake in Western societies constitutes a major factor in the increase of blood pressure and, thus, the increased incidence of several diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease (He et al., 2010; Doyle and Glass, 2010). The governments of Western countries are imposing regulations and programmes to control salt by establishing limits of salt in processed foods and thus moderate its daily intake by consumers. Such measures are trying to encourage food industry to reduce salt in processed foods for both the improvement of the health of the population and the reduction in the long-term health-related costs. A reduction in salt intake toward less than 5-6 g/day would be very bene‚cial to consumers, and would save a large amount of money to healthcare services (Cobiac et al., 2010). Some countries like Finland and the United Kingdom have already reduced the amount of salt consumed, being the action based on a combined action for salt reduction by the food industry, a clear labeling on food products, and an effective communication to consumers about potential harmful effects of salt on health (He et al., 2010).
