WHO Releases Updated SHAKE Technical Package on Sodium Reduction Policies

Xi Yin, Coordinator of the Health Promotion and Policy unit and Acting Lead for the Nutrition and Food Safety unit in the Division of Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Control of the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, highlighted the package’s practicality for countries in his region.

“The second edition of SHAKE offers a practical menu of measures that countries can readily apply, with clear, step-by-step guidance, and strong opportunities to scale up mandatory approaches to reduce persistently high salt intake across the region,” he said.

Yin noted existing progress in parts of the Western Pacific.

The SHAKE package organizes interventions into Surveillance, Harness industry, Adopt standards for labelling and marketing, Knowledge and Environment. The updated version includes guidance on managing conflicts of interest with the food industry and states that the industry should not set public health policy.

It also supplies detailed annexes on data collection, enforcement and countering common industry arguments.

Specific measures detailed in the package include food reformulation which sets maximum limits or targets for the sodium content of pre-packaged foods. It incorporates front-of-pack labelling which provides interpretive information about sodium content alongside mandatory declaration. Food procurement and service policies limit high-sodium foods in public settings.

Additional components are food marketing restriction policies to protect children, taxation of unhealthy food, behaviour change communication and mass media campaigns, and lower-sodium salt substitutes to replace regular table salt in appropriate settings.

@WHO reported that the updated resource brings together the latest WHO guidelines and “best buys” interventions for the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases into a structured approach.