Salt levels in food targeted in new WHO initiative The World Health Organization (WHO) has set its sights on reducing salt in food products around the globe through new global benchmarks. It suggests the benchmarks for sodium levels in more than 60 food categories will "help countries reduce salt intake and save lives". WHO said most people consume double its recommended 5g of daily salt intake, putting themselves at greater risk of heart disease and strokes that kill an estimated three million people each year. Its new Global Sodium Benchmarks for Different Food Categories, published yesterday (5 May), is a guide for countries and the industry to reduce the sodium content in different categories of processed foods, the consumption of which is a "rapidly increasing source of sodium," the WHO said.