Reduce daily salt intake, go for natural flavours - Dr Noor Hisham

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in conjunction with World Salt Awareness Week that begins today until March 14, the ministry recommends Malaysians to take some simple steps to reduce their daily salt intake.

"Among the steps are to know other names for salt used in food such as Sodium Nitrate, Sodium Bicarbonate and Monosodium Glutamate as well as read labels and compare sodium content before purchasing food.

"... limit salt intake to no more than one teaspoon per day, including iodised salts to reduce the risks of heart diseases, hypertension and stroke," he said in a statement here today.

Dr Noor Hisham also called on Malaysians to prioritise natural flavours and reduce the use of salt and sauce and soy sauce in cooking as well as eat more home-cooked food.

He said cooperation of all parties is needed to ensure the success of efforts to address excessive salt intake among Malaysians.

"Hopefully our efforts to reduce excessive salt intake can help prevent as well as control hypertension and reduce premature deaths among Malaysians," he said.

Dr Noor Hisham said the ministry is also implementing the national Universal Salt Iodisation (USI) programme as one of the public health interventions to prevent and control health problems caused by iodine deficiency disorder (IDD) among Malaysians.

The World Salt Awareness Week themed, 'More Flavour, Less Salt', focuses on healthy living awareness in the community as a non-communicable diseases prevention measure.