Nu-Tek Salt Australasia has partnered with The George Institute in an attempt to curb the health risks associated with high sodium diets, launching a Salt Swap program in Lithgow.
Salt Swap is a community health campaign to reduce salt intake by swapping household table salt with Nu-Tek's Salt for Life product, which offers 70 percent less sodium than conventional table salt.
A diet high in salt, or sodium chloride, can have a number of negative effects on health including high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease. Nu-Tek's Salt for Life product is a potassium chloride formulation rather than a sodium-based one, therefore offering consumers a healthier alternative to traditional table salt.
Salt Swap will not only see Lithgow households replace their salt shaker with Salt for Life, independent bakeries in the area will also be replacing their salt with Nu-Tek's product.
Nu-Tek's director, Jason Cummings, said "We're working on getting 100 percent of the independent bakeries using Nu-Tek salt in their bread products, to reduce the sodium in their bread, and we're aiming to have 50 percent of independent caterers and restaurants using Salt for Life. We're also aiming to have 75 to 95 percent of households using Salt for Life."
Currently in the third year of a four year program, Salt Swap identified the average adult salt intake in Lithgow is nine grams a day, more than twice the Australian suggested dietary target of four grams a day.
The initiative aims to reduce salt intake in the area by 10 percent, and Mary-Anne Land of The George Institute said Salt Swap Lithgow places Lithgow at the forefront of achieving the World Health Organisation's 2025 target of reducing the population's salt intake by 30 percent.
Cummings told Food magazine, "It's an exciting exercise. There's lots happening and we're trying to work with the community and get them to change how they use salt, especially at home. Because, at the end of the day, any [reduction] in salt levels is a benefit."