With the increase in lifestyle-related diseases becoming an issue, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is working with food manufacturers to promote low-salt foods, saying that refraining from salt intake is an important factor in preventing or improving hypertension. I decided to proceed.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, hypertension, which leads to stroke and heart disease, corresponds to 30% of adult men and 25% of women, even excluding those who take medicine to keep it low, and the biggest cause in terms of diet is salt content. It is said that it is too much.
For this reason, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare established a new organization consisting of 12 companies, including bread and confectionery makers, on the 9th of this month to expand the range of low-salt foods.
At the establishment meeting, some consumers had the image that "reduced salt" was not delicious, and some companies felt that foods with "reduced salt" were avoided.
After that, we regularly exchanged opinions, including researchers, on the progress and issues of the salt reduction plans made by each company, and confirmed that the companies would cooperate with each other to disseminate information. ..
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the daily intake of salt per Japanese person will be 10.1 grams in 2019, which is twice as much as the WHO = less than 5 grams per day recommended by the World Health Organization, compared to other countries such as South Korea and the United States. But it is increasing.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare says that while there are many opportunities to buy lunch boxes and delicatessen items at the corona sickness and eat them at home, it is feared that too much salt will be taken without knowing it, and the importance of salt reduction is increasing. increase.
Tomikue Kiyono, director of the Nutrition Guidance Office of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, said, "Until now, the focus was on enlightenment to change individual behavior, but that alone has its limits, and it is important that what you pick up is salt reduction. The key to solving the problem is that the amount of salt in the foods that are distributed naturally gradually decreases. I would like to link this to collaborative efforts by companies, distribution, and academia. "
"Sneak" salt reduction movement at convenience stores
FamilyMart, a major convenience store, reduced salt by 5% to 30% in about 30 products such as its own brand lunch boxes and noodles in about one year until August.
▽ Meat sauce spaghetti has been reduced from 4.4 grams to 3.6 grams,
▽ Sauce fried noodles has been reduced from 7.6 grams to 5.2 grams, and
▽ Omelet rice has been reduced from 6.2 grams to 5.1 grams.
There is an image among consumers that low-salt foods are not delicious, so although the mandatory nutrition facts label states the equivalent amount of salt, we did not put a label that emphasizes low-salt on the packaging.
So far, no customers have said that the taste has changed or that it is no longer delicious, and there has been no major change in sales.
In order to make the taste as unchanged as possible when using salt, it is necessary to stick to the cooking method and make the soup stock effective, which takes time and cost, but we will continue to strategically provide health-friendly products. I plan to go.
A male customer in his 40s said, "I didn't feel that the salt was reduced. It's salty and delicious, and I'm grateful that I tend to get rid of salt."
In addition, a male customer in his 50s said, "I've been told that my blood pressure is high in my health checkup, so I'm more careful than ever. If it tastes good, I've never tried to reduce salt." I did.
Mr. Noriyuki Kinoshita of FamilyMart Product Headquarters said, "I felt that sales would drop or it wouldn't last for a long time, so I tried to reduce salt" secretly "rather than appealing for it. I would like to work on whether we can provide products. "
Nissin Foods Co., Ltd., a major food manufacturer, is working to reduce the salt content of cup noodles.
This is because we believe that it is essential to create products that can be obtained by many people as awareness of health increases.
However, simply reducing the amount of salt contained in "noodles" will cause bitterness and a poor texture.
Therefore, as a result of searching for a method that can reduce salt, it was found that the taste and texture did not change significantly when "magnesium chloride" was added to the noodles together with "potassium lactate" instead of salt.
As a result, the low-salt "Cup Noodle", which was launched three years ago, was able to reduce the equivalent amount of salt from 4.9 grams per serving to 3.2 grams, which is about 30% less.
Tsutomu Shirasawa, brand manager of the Nissin Food Products Marketing Department, said, "There are more opportunities to have people eat at home due to corona, but more people are concerned about their health, so I think it is important to have a complete lineup. Deliciousness is the most important thing to be able to eat for a long time, and I think the big point is to reduce salt in the same taste as usual. "
Initiatives overseas
Efforts to reduce salt are being actively promoted overseas as well.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the United Kingdom has set a goal of reducing the amount of salt contained in processed foods by 40% since 2003, and is proceeding with salt reduction for 85 items such as bread, cereals and pasta sauce.
It means that the amount of salt in food is gradually reduced with the cooperation of companies so that changes in taste are not noticeable.
In Hungary, a law was enacted in 2011 to tax snacks and other foods that contain more than 1 gram of salt per 100 grams.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has set a daily intake of less than 7.5 grams for men and less than 6.5 grams for women in order to prevent and improve lifestyle-related diseases.
On the other hand, the average daily salt intake of Japanese people in 2019 is 10.1 grams, which is much higher.