Fury as FSA salt ads target bread and cereal |
James Ball, thegrocer.co.uk 09 October 2009 In: Industry news
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Several trade bodies, including the Food & Drink Federation, have withdrawn their support for the Food Standards Agency’s salt awareness campaign.
The FSA has set a target to cut UK consumers’ daily salt consumption from 8.6g to 6g. Its latest ad campaign, launched this week, urges consumers to cut down on cereals and bread or switch to lower-salt products.
“Our members still very much support the aims of reformulation and meeting FSA salt targets,” said FDF director of communications Julian Hunt. “But two of our biggest groups of members are no longer able to support the campaign so we must withdraw as the execution of some of the ads fails to recognise the incredible efforts made by industry to cut salt.”
A spokeswoman for the FSA defended the move. “We recognise and applaud the work by bakers to reduce levels of salt in bread, and appreciate that premium loaves in particular face challenges in reducing salt further,” she said.
“However, we have a target of reducing salt intakes to 6g, so it is important we highlight which products have the lowest levels to those who want to know how to reduce salt.”