Lowering sodium in packaged and prepared foods could significantly improve cardiovascular health and prevent many cases of heart disease, stroke and deaths in France and the United Kingdom, according to two research studies published in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal. The findings highlight how population-level strategies that modify food environments can yield substantial public health benefits without relying on individual behavior change.
In France, researchers found that if sodium reduction targets focused on reducing salt in baguettes and other breads were fully met, they could lower daily salt intake by 0.35 grams per person and reduce national deaths by more than 1,000 annually. Bread, especially the baguette, is culturally and nutritionally central in France, yet traditionally contains about 25% of total daily recommended salt intake. The analysis revealed that 100% compliance to salt reductions would mean deaths declining by 0.18% (1,186) annually, with hospitalizations for ischemic heart disease dropping by 1.04% and hospitalizations for hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke falling by 1.05% and 0.88% respectively.
"This salt-reduction measure went completely unnoticed by the French population - no one realized that bread contained less salt," said Clemence Grave, M.D., lead author of the study from France and epidemiologist at the French National Public Health Agency. "Our findings show that reformulating food products, even with small, invisible changes, can have a significant impact on public health."
In the United Kingdom, researchers estimated that if 2024 salt reduction goals for takeaway and packaged foods were fully met, daily salt intake could decrease by 17.5%, potentially preventing about 103,000 cases of ischemic heart disease and approximately 25,000 ischemic strokes over 20 years through reduced blood pressure. The modeling suggests this would translate to roughly 243,000 additional quality-adjusted life years and £1 billion in savings for the U.K.'s National Health Service.
"If U.K. food companies had fully met the 2024 salt reduction targets, the resulting drop in salt intake across the population could have prevented tens of thousands of heart attacks and strokes, saved substantially in health costs and significantly improved public health," said Lauren Bandy, D.Phil., the study's lead author and researcher at the University of Oxford. "All without requiring people to change their eating habits."
Consuming too much sodium is a major risk factor for hypertension, which can lead to health complications such as heart attack, stroke, chronic kidney disease, dementia and other forms of cardiovascular disease. The World Health Organization recommends adults should consume less than 2,000 milligrams of sodium per day, while the American Heart Association recommends daily intake of no more than 2,300 milligrams, with an ideal limit of 1,500 mg per day for most adults. Global intake typically exceeds these recommendations.
Daniel W. Jones, M.D., chair of the 2025 American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology High Blood Pressure Guideline, said the results are "absolutely relevant" to the U.S. and any country where much food is prepared outside the home. "Though sodium reduction makes small improvements in blood pressure at the individual level, these small changes in individuals result in major improvements in a large population," he explained.
Both studies reinforce the importance of coordinated efforts among policymakers, the food industry and health professionals to strengthen and enforce sodium-reduction programs globally. The research demonstrates that population-level approaches to food reformulation can complement individual counseling to achieve greater reductions in cardiovascular risk and improve long-term health outcomes across diverse populations.
