Review of national nutrition standards with salt-related criteria for publicly funded institutions around the world

Context: Creating healthy food environments through nutrition standards for publicly funded institutions (eg, schools, workplaces, and hospitals) provides an important opportunity to improve population diets.

Objective: This study aimed to identify countries with national nutrition standards for publicly funded institutions that included salt-related criteria and to describe and summarize these initiatives.

Data sources: Peer-reviewed and grey literature was searched to December 2019, including MEDLINE, CENTRAL, Embase, TRoPHI, LILACS, Web of Science, Cochrane Public Health Group Specialised Register, and Effective Public Health Practice Project Database. In addition, a questionnaire was sent to country contacts and salt-reduction experts, and a targeted search on relevant government websites was conducted.

Data extraction: Key characteristics of the national nutrition standards for publicly funded institutions were extracted, including name, governance, institution type, implementation status, and details of food and nutrient criteria.

Data analysis: Nutrition standards were analyzed by World Health Organization region, World Bank income level, institution type, type of criteria, regulatory approach, and method of application. Sixty-six countries were identified as having national nutrition standards that included salt-related criteria for at least one publicly funded institution. Standards were more prevalent in the European Region, high-income countries, and schools compared to other regions, income levels, and institution types, respectively. Most standards were mandatory and contained nutrition criteria pertaining to both foods and nutrients.

Conclusion: Nutrition standards have the potential to significantly improve diets, but there is considerable scope to develop and implement nutrition standards more effectively using the new World Health Organization Action Framework.