Advances made in heart health due to salt reduction programmes are at risk if funding is cut and salt intake remains significantly higher than recommended levels, researchers at Queen Mary University of London warned.
They said the recent stalling of salt reduction programmes was endangering the potential health gains.
The food industry needs to adopt stricter salt reduction targets and be fined for failures to comply, the researchers suggested.
Excess salt in diet is linked to raised blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and a plethora of debilitating problems.
Almost 200,000 fewer adults will develop heart disease by 2050 saving £1.64 billion in healthcare spending because of the salt reduction programme, the researchers said.
"These gains could be seriously endangered if the policy is weakened.
"The stalling of salt reduction efforts in the past few years is now eating away at the potential population health gains and is costing our health service dearly," said lead researcher Professor Borislava Mihaylova.
"Over the last few years, quantities of salt in diets have remained steady at levels much higher than recommended.
"If we can reduce our salt intake to the recommended 5g per day, we will double health benefits and healthcare savings by the year 2050."
Between 2003 and 2010, the Food Standards Agency and the food industry established salt reduction targets in over 85 food categories, leading to an average 15 per cent reduction in salt intake.
New research, published in the journal Hypertension, found that:
- By 2018 the salt reduction programme in England achieved an overall salt intake reduction of 1 gram/day per adult to 8.38 grams/day.
- If 2018 salt intake levels are maintained, by 2050 the programme would have led to 193,870 fewer adults developing premature cardiovascular disease and £1.64 billion of healthcare cost savings for the adult population of England.
- If the World Health Organisation recommended salt intake of 5 grams/day is achieved by 2030 in England, these benefits could double, preventing a further 213,880 premature cardiovascular disease cases and further health and social care savings to the UK government of £5.33 billion.
Too much salt can also lead to kidney disease, gastric cancer and osteoporosis.
Professor Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Queen Mary University of London and chairman of Action on Salt, said: "This study shows the enormous health benefits and cost effectiveness of the gradual reduction in salt intake in the UK that occurred between 2003 and 2011.
"Since then, the food industry has stopped reducing the excessive amounts of salt they add to our food (80 per cent of our intake) due largely to government inaction. It's now time for Downing Street to take decisive measures in forcing the food industry to comply. If not, many more thousands of people will suffer unnecessary strokes and heart attacks."
To hit the reduction goals there should be strict enforcement of salt targets, and fines for food companies who do not comply, the researchers said. They also want stricter salt reduction targets.
