A first-of-its-kind World Health Organization Global report on sodium intake reduction shows that the world is off-track to achieve its global target of reducing sodium intake by 30% by 2025.

The report released last week shows that only 5% of WHO member states are protected by mandatory and comprehensive sodium reduction policies and 73% of them lack full range of implementation of such policies.

According to WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, unhealthy diets are a leading cause of death and disease globally, and excessive sodium intake is one of the main culprits.

At national level, he says, implementing highly cost-effective sodium reduction policies could save an estimated 7 million lives globally by 2030. But since the main source of sodium is table salt (sodium chloride), in this report, we speak to a dietician on how best to regulate its intake at household level.