Contrary to long-held assumptions, high-salt diets may not increase the risk of death, according to investigators from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University. They reached their conclusion after examining dietary intake among a nationally representative sample of adults in the U.S. The Einstein researchers actually observed a significantly increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) associated with lower sodium diets.

If you think you can lower the risk of heart disease by cutting down on salt, you're wrong, as a new study has found no conclusive proof of any link between having salt and the incidence of heart disease.

Low salt foods are just as safe or safer than high salt level products in spite of expectations that cutting salt levels in food would increase the risk of spoilage by bacteria, say scientists today at the Society for General Microbiology's 161st Meeting at the University of Edinburgh, UK, which runs from 3-6 September 2007.

Researchers in the United States say they have more evidence of the health risks of eating too much salt. The scientists at the Harvard Medical School say their findings suggest that consuming less salt can reduce the chances of heart disease and stroke by 25 per cent.