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Message about reducing sodium intake still unclear

A report for the federal government suggests Canadians are confused about salt.The report says many Canadians are in the dark about how much sodium they should consume, and how to go about effectively lowering their intake.

OTTAWA — A report for the federal government suggests Canadians are confused about salt.

The report says many Canadians are in the dark about how much sodium they should consume, and how to go about effectively lowering their intake.

It also says people, when asked what they should restrict as part of a healthy eating plan, are more concerned about limiting fat and calories than sodium. The findings come from focus groups conducted for Health Canada researchers; a report on the work was released Wednesday as part of the Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada.

Many researchers and several groups, including the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Stroke Network, are calling for a national policy to reduce sodium content in foods. The average Canadian consumes about 3,400 milligrams of sodium a day, a figure the federal government would like to see lowered to 2,300 milligrams per day by 2016.

Most participants of the focus groups, conducted in Halifax, Montreal and Edmonton by the public opinion firm Harris-Decima, agreed that sodium should be reduced — but only if someone else raised the issue. However, they didn’t know how much they were consuming or how much they should consume.

The 2016 target is an interim goal for adults. Healthy children only need 1,000 to 1,500 mg of sodium per day. But some people are lobbying for even lower adult consumption targets, less than 1,500 mg a day.

The target was announced last year, after the release of a report from the Sodium Working Group. The announcement also called for the implementation of voluntary industry targets and for monitoring of sodium reduction.