I was reading your cover story on How Salt Kills (March 2) munching on Haldiram’s salted peanuts. I immediately scanned the fine print on the packet for the salt/sodium content. Nothing anywhere, making a joke of the claim of Haldiram’s general manager Amitaabh Ganguly that he was “in complete agreement with the idea of a less salty and health India”. A good place for him to demonstrate his sincerity would be on the packets of Haldiram’s many products—by posting the salt and sodium content.
Cameron Smith, Kochi
From the astounding high of the year-ender double issue, your Mar 2 issue was a letdown. One-third of the content—24 out of 72 pages—was advertisement and ‘Spotlight’. Must be lucrative. Even the cover story is on what every grandmother has told us: keep off the whites—salt, sugar, maida.
Sunil Bapat, on e-mail
Your cover story on high salt intake was filled with useful information. But the problem is the lack of knowledge about junk food, which is being consumed in large quantities in urban India and gradually spreading to rural areas too. Junk food, high on cardiac risk-enhancing salt, oil, spices and low on cholesterol-clearing fibre, is tasty and cheap. With expenses on the rise, it’s cheap junk food that’s preferred over expensive, healthy fare. Advertisements in print and on television, YouTube and social media should encourage people to control the intake of junk food and salt. Stories of how people have adopted healthier diets and lifestyles for the better without much discomfort will rouse many others to follow suit.
Rohit Gehani, Mulund
The contribution of salt to hypertension is in question. A popular international magazine recently attracted much criticism from doctors for publishing an article on the subject.
P.B. Joshipura, Suffolk, VA
A modest reduction in salt intake can substantially reduce cardiovascular risk. Sugar intake too increases health risks. The government must start a campaign to spread the message that diets high on salt, sugar and fat are incompatible with good health. It should also regulate by law the salt content permissible in packed food.
H.N. Ramakrishna, Bangalore
Scared. No salt now.
Dinesh Kumar, Chandigarh
Namkeen, sold in sachets by MNCs and local companies alike, is addictive and health endangering. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon for teenagers to require treatment for hypertension, obesity, diabetes and other lifestyle diseases. The cause: addiction to namkeen and junk food. The government should spread awareness on the heavy health burden of a love of salt.
M.K. Somanatha Panicker, Chertala
People do not realise the harm they are doing themselves by consuming salt in excess—often unknowingly, for nobody thinks about the high concentration of salt in side dishes like papad, pickles and brine preserves.
M.Y. Shariff, Chennai
Outlook has taken up an issue of prime public importance—the high health risk of high salt intake—that no one else cared to highlight.
M.C. Joshi, Lucknow
Kudos to the Outlook team for deviating from politics to spread the word on the ill-effects of too much salt consumption.
Dr George Jacob, Kochi
There’s a saying in Malayalam: uppu thinnavan vellam kudikkum (He who has eaten salt will drink water).
V.N.K. Murti, Pattambi
The bad effects of salt can be mitigated by drinking lots of water—even when one is not really thirsty.
G. Natrajan, Isere, France
