Reducing sodium in packaged and prepared foods could significantly improve cardiovascular health and prevent many cases of heart disease, stroke and deaths in the general population in France and the U.K., according to two new research studies published today in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.
Consuming too much sodium is a major risk factor for hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, which can lead to health complications such as heart attack, stroke, chronic kidney disease, dementia and other forms of cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association.
To address the global concern about excessive sodium consumption, many countries have implemented salt-reduction strategies. The studies—one in France focusing on baguettes and other bread products, and the other in the United Kingdom targeting takeaway and packaged foods—estimated the potential impact if those salt-reduction targets were fully met.
“This approach is particularly powerful because it does not rely on individual behavior change, which is often difficult to achieve and sustain. Instead, it creates a healthier food environment by default,” said Clemence Grave, M.D., lead author of the France study and epidemiologist at the French National Public Health Agency.
The World Health Organization recommends adults consume less than 2,000 mg of sodium per day, but global intake is much higher. The American Heart Association recommends no more than 2,300 mg daily, with an ideal limit of 1,500 mg for most adults.
In France, a 2022 voluntary agreement between the government and bread producers set targets to lower salt content by 2025. Using national data, researchers modeled that full compliance would decrease daily salt intake by 0.35 g per person, leading to a reduction of 1,186 deaths annually, as well as drops in hospitalizations for ischemic heart disease (1.04%), hemorrhagic stroke (1.05%), and ischemic stroke (0.88%). Men received the greatest benefits.
“This salt-reduction measure went completely unnoticed by the French population—no one realized that bread contained less salt,” Grave said. “Our findings show that reformulating food products, even with small, invisible changes, can have a significant impact on public health.”
In the U.K., researchers used the 2024 sodium-reduction targets for 84 grocery food categories and 24 out-of-home categories. If fully met, average salt intake would drop from 6.1 g to 4.9 g per day (17.5% reduction), preventing about 103,000 cases of ischemic heart disease and 25,000 strokes over 20 years. This would translate into 243,000 additional quality-adjusted life years and £1 billion in savings for the National Health Service.
“If U.K. food companies had fully met the 2024 salt reduction targets, the resulting drop in salt intake across the population could have prevented tens of thousands of heart attacks and strokes, saved substantially in health costs and significantly improved public health,” said Lauren Bandy, D.Phil., lead author of the U.K. study at the University of Oxford.
Daniel W. Jones, M.D., FAHA, chair of the 2025 American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology High Blood Pressure Guideline, noted the results are “absolutely relevant” to the U.S. “Though sodium reduction makes small improvements in blood pressure at the individual level, these small changes in individuals result in major improvements in a large population.”
