Victorians are six times more likely to die from a dangerously high salt intake than in a road accident, a new study has revealed.
VicHealth reported on Wednesday that Victorians are consuming 15,000 tonnes of salt per year, at more than twice the recommended rate.
On average, every Victorian is consuming 2.5 kg of salt every year and health experts are concerned, saying that if salt intake was drastically reduced to more manageable levels, it could save up to 800 lives and slash more than 40 million U.S. dollars in healthcare costs every year.
To help combat the issue, VicHealth announced on Wednesday that it will be partnering with the World Health Organization (WHO) to aim to reduce the amount of salt Australians consume by 30 percent over the next decade.
"Australia has committed to a 30 percent reduction in salt intake by 2025 as part of the World Health Organization's global targets to prevent and control non-communicable diseases," VicHealth CEO Jerril Rechter said.
She said Victorians were risking suffering from high blood pressure and health problems much earlier in life if current trends continue.
"In particular, children, who generally need less salt than adults, are eating far too much salt, and this can lead to a lifetime of health risks," she said.
"Almost one in 20 deaths in Victoria is attributable to high salt intake - that's six times the annual road toll."
Rechter added that reducing Australians' salt intake was than 200 times cheaper than prescribing high blood pressure medication.
The Australian data comes on the back of a worldwide study conducted last year, in which the WHO concluded that high salt intake contributes to more than 1.6 million deaths worldwide.
The study labeled high salt intake a global issue, and said that no "world region and few countries were spared."
Rechter said that most Victorians were unaware of how much salt they were actually eating, due to high added salt levels in many pre-prepared and packaged foods.
"Most salt in the Australian diet comes from added salt in processed foods like bread, breakfast cereal, processed meats and ready-made sauces," she said.
