HOSPITAL staff involved in a national campaign are hoping their advice will not be taken with a pinch of salt.
Dieticians at South Cleveland Hospital, in Middlesbrough, are aiming to raise awareness of the amount of salt in a typical diet as part of a campaign by Cash (Consensus Action on Salt and Hypertension).
To illustrate their point, they have mounted displays in different parts of the hospital.
Helen Straw, a senior cardio-logy dietician, said: "Recently, the evidence of a direct rel-ationship between salt intake and the progressive increase in blood pressure with age has become clearer. It's extremely important that people reduce or control the amount of salt in their diet - raised blood pressure is a major cause of heart attacks and strokes."
Ms Straw said that on average, people in the UK consumed at least 12 grammes of salt a day - double the amount they need.
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