Over 80 per cent of our salt intake comes from eating processed foods. But if we could reduce our intake by only 15% through some simple dietary changes, then many lives could be saved according to research published in the Lancet.

Many experts now believe that eating too much salt increases blood pressure leading to cardiovascular problems responsible for almost 50 per cent of deaths in Europe.

Whilst these new results will increase pressure on the industry to reduce salt levels, food producers are reluctant to let go of this cheap and tasty preservative, which plays to one of our basic bodily needs for salt intake.

"The onus is now on the global food industry to save these lives by slowly removing the salt that they currently add to manufactured foods and to reduce salt intake worldwide to less than five g/day" says Prof Graham MacGregor, the chairman of Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH).

Recommended daily intake is no more than 6g for and adult, however, the Food Standards Agency (UK) published figures in 2005 that show Men eating the most salt at a daily average of 11.0g, and Women at 8.1g per day.

In another recent report Pizza Hut were found to be putting 9.7g of salt into a single meal, the 'Meat feast Italian pizza plus'' and the "Mediterranean meat feast Italian pizza plus'', also a party of 4 ordering the 'Meal Deal' will eat 12.3g of salt per person.