morningadvertiser.co.ukFSA Salt Campaign (Sid the Slug)
Also: Sid the Slug · 6g a day
“6g a day”
UK Food Standards Agency consumer campaign launched 13 September 2004, fronted by an animated slug, Sid, telling people that salt raises blood pressure and to eat no more than 6g a day, and later to check labels. It ran alongside the agency's voluntary salt reformulation targets with the food industry.
- Years
- 2004
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Budget
- GBP 4m for the autumn 2004 launch phase (CASH newsletter, October 2004)
- Topic
- Blood pressureCardiovascularNutrition
- Asks people to
- StopSubstitute
- Strategy
- MascotPolicy pairedSimple instruction
- Channel
- OutdoorPrintTVWebsite
- Audience
- AdultsGeneral public
Evidence
ObservationalPositive
Pseudo-panel analysis of Health Survey for England spot urine sodium (2003-2007) was consistent with the campaign cutting salt intake by about 10%, more in women (Shankar et al. 2013). Adults adding salt at the table fell faster after the campaign (OR 0.58) (Sutherland et al. 2013). From 2003 to 2011 measured salt intake fell 1.4 g/day (15%) and blood pressure fell 3.0/1.4 mmHg, alongside 42% and 40% falls in stroke and heart disease mortality, which the authors partly attribute to salt reduction (He et al. 2014). None of these separates the ads from industry reformulation.
Sponsor (who paid)
- Food Standards Agency Foreign government, creator and funder
- Department of Health (England) Foreign government, partner
Credits (who made it)
Not recorded yet.
Related campaigns
- Change4Life 2009–now
Sources
- Shankar B et al. An evaluation of the UK Food Standards Agency's salt campaign. Health Econ 2013;22:243-50 evaluation · 2013 · DOI 10.1002/hec.2772 · PMID 22223605
- Sutherland J et al. Fewer adults add salt at the table after initiation of a national salt campaign in the UK. Br J Nutr 2013;110:552-8 evaluation · 2013 · DOI 10.1017/S0007114512005430 · PMID 23286885
- He FJ et al. Salt reduction in England from 2003 to 2011: its relationship to blood pressure, stroke and ischaemic heart disease mortality. BMJ Open 2014;4:e004549 evaluation · 2014 · DOI 10.1136/bmjopen-2013-004549 · PMID 24732242
- CASH (Consensus Action on Salt and Health) newsletter, October 2004 news · 2004
- FSA slugs it out with pub chefs over salt (Morning Advertiser, 17 Sep 2004) news · 2004
- 'Eat less salt' say FSA ads (The Grocer, 8 Jul 2006) news · 2006
Research notes
Launch date and GBP 4m budget read from the CASH October 2004 newsletter (downloaded .doc). The Grocer (2006) confirms Sid the Slug was the 2004 first phase and that 2006 ads ran 10-second versions of the 2005 ads with a 6g-a-day/label-reading message. Creative agency not confirmed (a Marketing Week headline 'FSA appoints Initials to 2m salt account' was seen in search results but the page returned 403). End year unknown.
Record cases/uk-fsa-salt-campaign.json, updated 2026-10-23· Link to this campaign