Sir, - Our children are currently avid consumers of Kellogg's Rice Krispies. Each packet contains a small Star Wars figure and they are keen to collect the entire set. Powerful images of Star Wars characters have appeared on the back of the Rice Krispies box, thereby providing further encouragement to our offspring to munch their way to the end.
I have a problem with Rice Krispies and other breakfast cereals of similar ilk. The salt content of Rice Krispies is 1.1g per 100g, a concentration in excess of that found in sea water (1g per 100g). There is now considerable evidence that dietary salt intake plays a critical role in the development of high blood pressure and, in particular, in the rise in blood pressure with age seen in developed countries. High blood is a cause of both heart attack and stroke.
The Government has recently launched a cardiovascular disease prevention strategy, "Building Healthier Hearts". The document explicit acknowledges the contribution of dietary salt intake to the increase in blood pressure with age and recommends that the Food Safety Authority of Ireland should examine dietary salt intake and advise on a national policy on salt. This reflects the overwhelming scientific consensus that dietary salt is an important factor in the development of high blood pressure and that it thereby contributes to the substantial burden of suffering and death to heart attack and stroke.
In the light of this evidence I would be grateful if Kellogg's and other food manufacturers could advise us as to why it is necessary to produce processed food that is saturated with salt. Indeed most salt in the Irish diet is hidden in processed food such as bread, biscuits and breakfast cereals. The sensitivity of our salt taste receptors depends on our habitual intake. For most people, once salt intake has been reduced for two to three months, food becomes distasteful. Thus the case for gradually reducing the salt content of processed food is strong. Our children's exposure to sea water might then be confined to the seaside. - Yours, etc.,
Prof Ivan J. Perry, MD, PhD., Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College, Cork.