Kellogg's cuts salt levels
Cereal manufacturer Kellogg’s has cut salt levels in some of its products by 25%, the company said.
All of the firm’s cornflake-based cereals will see the reduction in a new recipe available in supermarkets from this week.
The move has been welcomed by consumer group Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash) but it has said more needs to be done.
Penelope Gilbert, nutritionist for Cash, said: “It is important to remember that even after this reduction Kellogg’s Corn Flakes will still be classed as a product that contains a lot of salt, and a 50g bowl of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes will contain around 0.9g of salt more than a bag of crisps.”
She added: “Salt reductions of 36% on average are needed in breakfast cereals in order to meet the Food Standards Agency target of 6g of salt a day in adults by 2009.
“Lowering our salt intake to 6g a day will save 35,000 lives a year from heart attacks and strokes.”
Kellogg’s said it has been running a salt reduction programme since 1998.
The brands which now have a lower salt content include Corn Flakes, Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes and Frosties.
The new salt levels are based on a 25% reduction in sodium per 100g of corn flakes which equates to a reduction from 0.95g of sodium (2.375g salt) to 0.7g sodium (1.7g salt).
Alyson Greenhalgh-Ball, health and well-being manager at Kellogg’s, said: “Although breakfast cereals on average contribute a very small amount of salt in the diet – no more than 5% of the average adult intake of salt – we are committed to helping consumers reduce the amount of salt in their diets in line with Government policies on salt reduction.”
A company spokeswoman said: “Kellogg’s is trying to provide nutritional cereals across a variety of tastes and preferences.
“What we’ve done is give people the opportunity to choose something low in salt that’s a healthier alternative.”
