Hongkongers need to cut down on sugar and salt: experts
With average Hongkonger eating twice as much salt as is healthy, academics suggest using less soy sauce and efforts to improve products
Hongkongers need to wean themselves off salty soy sauce, an international expert said yesterday, as a conference on reducing sodium and sugar use heard the latest shocking statistics on consumption in the city.
The suggestion came from one of five academics advising the Centre for Food Safety on the matter. The meeting heard that the average Hongkonger consumed almost twice the five grams of salt per day the World Health Organisation recommended. Some 30 per cent ate more sugar than they should.
The experts encouraged the city to take a focused approach to cutting salt and sugar consumption, including better monitoring and public education.
One of them, Professor Graham MacGregor, said the emphasis on preservatives and marinades in Asian cuisine was part of the problem - with the signature condiment a big culprit.
"You get salt in everything, but the soy sauce is really a big source," he said. He urged Hongkongers to switch to less salty brands or cut down on the sauce.
The British academic suggested health authorities encourage individual Hongkongers to eat better while working with food manufacturers to incrementally reduce sugar and salt in their products. If they were taken away slowly, consumers would not even notice, he said.
Other international panellists shared similar ideas. Professor Pekka Puska, from Finland, urged stronger regulations for manufacturers, while Canadian academic Professor Norman Campbell said the city should highlight good practice.
Dr Philip Ho Yuk-yin, the centre's consultant, said action would be taken, including the creation of working groups to liaise with the food industry. Research would begin next year to better monitor the problem, including analysis of urine samples. But lack of experience had stalled the city's efforts to cut salt and sugar consumption.
"That's why we established this international advisory panel," Ho said. The panel, which also includes mainland expert Professor Zhao Wenhua and Australian Professor Bruce Neal, was set up last year.
Excessive sodium and sugar consumption have been linked to a host of problems, including hypertension and heart disease.
A study published in the in August found that sodium consumption was above the WHO recommended level in 181 of the 187 countries for which figures were available. The Tuft University researchers, who also cited soy sauce as a concern in Asia, said there were 1.65 million deaths per year from diseases linked to sodium consumption.
