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Food and Nutrition

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The Issue of Sodium

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High blood pressure is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease and stroke, which are the number one cause of hospitalization and death for Canadians. Research has shown that blood pressure rises with increased sodium intake in the general population and that reduced sodium intake decreases blood pressure.

Results from Statistics Canada's 2004 Next link will take you to another website Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) show that, among people aged 9 to 70, over 85 percent of men and 60 to 80 percent of women had sodium intakes exceeding the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL). Similar high intakes are seen in young children: 77 percent of children aged 1 to 3 and 93% of children aged 4 to 8 exceed the UL for sodium. Actual sodium consumption is estimated to be even higher than this survey shows since due to the self-reported dietary recall survey methods tend to underestimate intake.

This means that a large majority of Canadians are consuming levels of sodium, mostly from commercially prepared foods, that put them at risk for high blood pressure.

The Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for sodium is set by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM). They recommend that people aged 14 and over not exceed 2300 mg of sodium per day, which is the highest intake level likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects. Adequate Intakes (AIs) for good health for people aged one year and over, range from 1000 mg/day to 1500 mg/day.

For more information, check out Health Canada's It's Your Health on Sodium.

What's Being Done?

The 2007 Health Canada revised Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide advises Canadians to use the Nutrition Facts table to help choose foods lower in sodium. Sodium is one of the nutrients that must always appear in the Nutrition Facts table. This table is required on most prepackaged foods. Foods with claims about their sodium content must also meet strict criteria set out in the Food and Drug Regulations.

In October 2007, the Department also announced that it was establishing a multi-stakeholder working group to develop and oversee the implementation of a strategy for reducing sodium intake among Canadians.

Working Group on Dietary Sodium Reduction

The Sodium Working Group is chaired by Health Canada and includes representatives from food manufacturing and food service industry groups, health-focused non-governmental organizations, the scientific community, consumer advocacy groups, health professional organizations and government representatives.

Each stakeholder organization was invited to submit one or two nominees to participate in the Working Group. Members of the Working Group were appointed, based on nominations put forward by the participating organizations from all the various sectors, to ensure a mix of disciplines, skill sets and perspectives. Consideration was also given to geographical representation. Terms of Reference have also been established for this working group.

The Working Group has met on several occasions to establish a common knowledge base and to develop strategies for reducing dietary sodium consumption among Canadians. Reports from the meetings and teleconferences that have taken place to date can be found below. The SWG will submit their Sodium Reduction Strategy in 2010.

Further updates on the progress of the Working Group will continue to be posted on this site.