Salt Awareness Day

This project was set up by Trading Standards in Warrington who linked in with the local Primary Care Trust, North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust and The Stroke Association to train professionals who work with the elderly about the adverse effects of too much salt in the diet. Two workshops were held linking in with CASH – Consensus Action on Salt and Health and their Salt Awareness Day which was held on 26th January 2005.

Aims and Objectives

The Food Standards Agency had recently held their Salt Awareness Campaign highlighting the adverse affects salt can have on the body, using "Sid the slug" as a great marketing tool. In addition to raising the awareness of the health problems that can be caused by consumers adding too much salt to their food Trading Standards also wanted to link in and draw attention to the "hidden" salt that is found in processed foods. By working with CASH, the Primary Care Trust, The Stroke Association and North Cheshire Hospitals NHS Trust the following three aims of the day were set and met:

Raise awareness of the health problems that are associated with too much salt in the diet.
Educate consumers on how to read food labels, therefore enabling them to see the amount of salt in their food.
Provide practical advice on how to reduce the amount of salt in the diet.

Organisations Involved

Warrington Trading Standards
Warrington Borough Council
Warrington Primary Care Trust
North Cheshire Hospital NHS Trust
The Stroke Association
CASH - Consensus Action on Salt and Health

Target Audience

The aim of the day was to "train the trainer". Over 30 people attended on the day with professionals from Social Services Older Peoples Service, NHS/Primary Care Trust, Age Concern and a number of elderly people from the local area being invited.

Activities/Sessions

The day began with the Food and Health Advisor from the local Primary Care Trust introducing the training followed by a very informative presentation about the adverse health effects of too much salt in the diet by a representative from The Stroke Association. The Community Food Worker, from the Food & Health Team, spoke about the effects of salt in our food and encouraged the audience to taste different foods. There then followed a practical demonstration of how to reduce salt in your food, considering different cooking methods and the use of other flavours. Next Trading Standards explained the importance of food labels and the worrying fact that had been uncovered by a recent ready meals analysis survey that many ready meals contain high amounts of salt, which is sometimes listed confusingly as sodium.

A survey carried out by Warrington Trading Standards Service in conjunction with other Trading Standards Officers from around the Merseyside area, has revealed that many popular ready meals are very high in salt, with one meal sampled containing 80% of a whole day’s recommended salt allowance of 6g.

Included in the survey were popular ready meals found on sale in the major supermarkets such as shepherd’s pie, lasagne, casseroles and macaroni cheese. The samples included major manufacturers and supermarket-own brand.

Over half the ready meals surveyed were found to contain more than a third of the recommended daily amount.

There was also concern that the ready meal may only form one component of a meal and may be traditionally eaten with other accompaniments, which may themselves contain high "hidden" salt levels (e.g. garlic bread with lasagne).

Finally the audience were given a quiz to complete using the knowledge they had gained from the day. There were prizes for the winner of each session of low salt cookbooks and herb growing kits.

Evaluation

The evaluation forms returned were all very positive with everyone enjoying the day and people seemed keen to go away and try reducing the amount of salt they consume and also teach others how to.

More importantly, the results of the quiz showed that the messages about the adverse effects of too much salt, hidden salt in processed foods and the difference between sodium and salt had been understood.

Resources

Staff time:

3 x North Cheshire Hospital NHS Trust staff approx. 45 hours for preparation time and time spent on the day of the event
1x Warrington Trading Standards Service – approx. 15 hours spent on preparation time and time spent on the day
Packs – approx. £10
Refreshments - £ 18
Food tasters - £12

Does not include costs for existing resources, e.g. displays, banners, food models, venue, leaflets (free from manufacturers / providers).

Lessons Learned

Initially gauge interest using local contacts e.g. PCT and Local Authority and those who have connections to other interested parties
Allow plenty of planning and preparation time and diary the time in.
Find a suitable venue and book it well in advance
During the preparation and planning stage agree specifically who is responsible for certain tasks
Contact the local media to ensure good coverage of the event N.B.each organisation involved should be responsible for contacting their own in-house communication departments to ensure it reaches the wider audience

Future Developments

The CASH Salt Awareness Day is an annual event with different themes each year and it is hoped that Trading Standards along with existing and new partners will run something similar in the future.

Contact Details

Name: Isabel Lucas
Position: Trading Standards Enforcement Officer
Address:
Warrington Borough Council
Palmyra House
Palmyra Square North
Warrington
Cheshire
WA1 1JN
Telephone: 01925 442660
Fax: 01925 442655

Email Address: ilucas@warrington.gov.uk

Name: Emma Bashall
Position: Food & Health Advisor – Warrington Food & Health Team
Address:
North Cheshire Hospitals NHS
Trust
Lovely Lane
Warrington
Cheshire
WA5 1QG
Telephone: 01925 662459
Fax: 01925 662923

Email Address: emma.bashall@nch.nhs.uk

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