Heinz Ketchup and Kellogg's Cornflakes could be forced to slash high salt levels

Heinz ketchup, Kellogg's cornflakes and a host of traditional foods from Cornish pasties to Stilton cheese are under pressure to slash their salt content.

The Food Standards Agency says radical action is needed to cut salt in a vast range of popular foods.

More than 14,000 people are dying each year because we are overdosing on salt, it claims.

Bread, ready meals, cakes and savoury snacks are also under scrutiny.

But the FSA's salt reduction drive has put it on a collision course with some manufacturers who accuse it of a 'nanny state' approach to the nation's diet.

The agency is hoping to persuade manufacturers, fast food chains and coffee shops to reduce the salt they use in their foods.

Research shows our average daily salt consumption is 8.6g - 43 per cent above the recommended limit of 6g. This is linked to the premature deaths of 14,200 people a year from conditions associated with high blood pressure including strokes and heart attacks.

There is some good news, however. Consumption is down from an estimated average of 9.5g a day in 2000-2001.

However, the FSA says tough action is needed to hit the healthier 6g mark.

It had already drawn up targets to reduce salt content in popular foods by 2010. These targets have now been made tougher.

Further reductions will be needed by 2012.

Dr Corinne Vaughan, deputy head of nutrition at the FSA, said: 'We are all eating too much salt.

'Everyone can make a difference to their salt intake by checking labels, not adding salt in the food they cook at home or at the table.

'We are pushing all companies to go further and go faster. We are leaning on everybody.'

Dr Vaughan gave the example of Heinz, which has introduced a lower-salt version of ketchup but will be encouraged to cut the salt in its usual brand as well.

Alette Addison, the FSA's salt reduction expert, said: 'We are asking for reductions right across the board, because that is the only way we are going to get to the 6g (average).

'We are actually moving further and faster than any other country in the world.'

The health lobbying group, Consesus Action on Salt and Health, welcomed the evidence that we are eating less salt.

Chairman Graham MacGregor, a professor of cardiovascular medicine, said: 'The aim must be to get salt intake as low as we can in order to save even more people from dying unnecessarily from strokes, heart attacks and heart failure.'

The Food & Drink Federation said that it would consult its members to see if the new targets were 'achievable'.

However, the Salt Association, which speaks for manufacturers, was scathing about the FSA targets.

General secretary Peter Sherratt said: 'The new targets are further evidence of the FSA's nanny-state blanket approach to telling us all how much salt we should consume.

'It has never been proved that salt causes high blood pressure, nor has it been proved that salt reduction lowers blood pressure for all of us.'