Health or Profit

共享题干题                                                                  (二)
                                                             Health or Profit
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    Although there is no direct evidence that salt is the cause of high blood pressure ar“hypertension”，there are studies which indicate that reducing salt intake lowers blood pressure．Some scientists are also concerned that excessive use of salt may cause asthma and kidney disease．Therefore most doctors would welcome a decision by food manufacturers to decrease the amount of salt in food．
   Many food manufacturers，however，are reluctant to reduce tile amount of salt．Salt is an important flavor enhancer and preservative．British Salt points out that salt is an essential nutrient and regular intake is required to maintain bodily functions．Moreover，according to British Salt，there are greater risk factors in hypertension，such as obesity(肥胖)，lack of exercise，alcohol intake and smokin9．Another reason why food producers are not keen on lowering the amount of salt is probably that they fear that less salt will mean lower sales．
     Not only will the sale of processed food containing salt decease but also the sale of soft drinks． A recent study，published in The Lancet of April l999，proves that if manufacturers cut the salt content of food it will not necessarily affect the taste of the product．Anthony Rodgers and Bruce Neal conducted a study to examine the difference in taste between bread with standard and reduced salt content．Three types of wholemeal bread were prepared，identical in all respects except for salt content．One loaf contained the standard quantity，one loaf l0％reduced and one 20％reduced．Sixty participants，who did not know the salt content were asked to rate the taste on a scale from zero to ten．They also had to guess which loaf contained the standard，10％reduced and 20％reduced quantity．Of the l80 9uesses of salt content，63 were correct，which is not different from what would be expected by chance．
     The study by Rodgers and Neal indicates that small reductions in salt content will not necessarily affect sales．If food manufacturers decide to diminish the amount of salt in food，blood pressure of the entire population will shift downwards，which may result in considerable health benefits．One of Britain’s largest supermarkets，Asda，has already decided to decrease the amount of salt in its products．The Asda products will contain up to 25％less salt．