MEDIA RELEASE: Dietlicious addresses heart health with new low salt meals range

September 17, 2024 Joanna O'Sullivan

Dietlicious becomes first ready-meal company to switch to potassium-enriched salt

Today Dietlicious has announced it has joined the fight against cardiovascular disease. They have become the first ready-made meal provider in Australia to make the switch away from regular salt to potassium-enriched salt, enabling them to offer a huge range of low sodium meals. Reducing sodium intake is one of the most cost-effective ways to improve health and reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease.

44% of all deaths in Australia are caused by heart disease, high blood pressure (hypertension) and stroke. These conditions are all linked to a high intake of sodium, from salt. While the dangers of excess salt consumption are widely known, unfortunately, Australians still consume nearly double the recommended amount of sodium per day. Most of this is from packaged, processed and fast foods.

It was through their involvement in The George Institute for Global Health's Food is Medicine research trial, as one of the providers of healthy meals for the Institute’s study participants, that Dietlicious realised that they could improve the sodium levels in their meals. Owner and founder, Janel Horton said “Our ethos has always been to make all-natural, 100% healthy meals with no additives or preservatives. We oppose the use of any artificial ingredients, so were accustomed to using herbs and spices, including salt, to optimise flavour. Once we heard that there was a natural, low sodium salt alternative, we were all in!”

Dietlicious have partnered with the innovative team at Neptune Bio-Innovations, an Australian company, who formulated Heart Salt, a potassium-enriched salt, to help them reduce the sodium content of their meals. Heart Salt contains 56% less sodium than regular salt. It’s made using a combination of sodium chloride and potassium chloride, both naturally occurring minerals. Heart Salt has a great taste, enabling it to be used to create low salt meals without any discernible difference in flavour.

Interestingly, Australians don’t meet the recommended targets for potassium intake (usually found in fruits and vegetables), which is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Therefore, Heart Salt enables consumers to not only lower their sodium but also increase potassium intake, a win: win for heart health!

Scientific studies demonstrate the effectiveness of products like Heart Salt in reducing cardiovascular events and death. That’s why organisations like The George Institute for Global Health advocate swapping to potassium-enriched salt. "If the world switched from using regular salt to potassium-enriched salt, millions of strokes and heart attacks could be prevented every year at very low cost," says Dr Kathy Trieu, program lead at the George Institute for Global Health.

Before Dietlicious made the switch to Heart Salt, they thoroughly tested their recipes, sampled and surveyed their customers. Results of the customer sampling were overwhelmingly positive:

97% gave the meals made with low sodium Heart Salt a satisfaction rating of 4 or 5 (out of 5).
97% said they would prefer to eat lower sodium meals if the taste was the same.
79% said they currently or previously suffered from one or more of these conditions linked to salt consumption – high blood pressure, fluid retention, heart issues/heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, diabetes.
86% said they were aware that excess sodium intake results in higher blood pressure and increases risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure and kidney disease.
Specific customer comments included:

“All as delicious as they have ever been, will keep ordering these”

“As a retired doctor, all I can say is "Good on you!!"”

“I think it's a great initiative. We should all eat less sodium without giving up the pleasure of great tasting food.”

“So impressed with your initiative for reducing salt, the meals are so very tasty that additional salt is not necessary”

The resounding response from customers has encouraged Dietlicious to review all their recipes and incorporate Heart Salt almost exclusively. Janel said, “We have wholeheartedly embraced Heart Salt in our kitchens. The sodium content of our meals has dropped dramatically and we are thrilled to say we now have over 50 low sodium diet meals. Even better, customers are loving the taste, and we feel great knowing we’re part of the solution to building a nation of heart healthy Australians.”

About Dietlicious

Loved by health nuts, foodies, and the time-poor, Dietlicious offers healthy meals made with no preservatives or additives, just a mix of fresh, natural ingredients, a dash of imagination, and a sprinkle of epicurean expertise. Meals are nutritionally prepared by chefs and snap-frozen to lock in vital nutrients and flavour.

Dietlicious has a range of weekly Meal Plans as well as Individual Meals including breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks and sides to help customers achieve their health or weight loss goals. They also cater to many dietary preferences including vegetarian, no added gluten, no added dairy, keto, high protein, low salt and more.

Dietlicious home delivers throughout many metro and regional areas in NSW, Vic, Qld and ACT. Check www.dietlicious.com.au for more details.