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It's hard to shake a craving once you've gotten accustomed to consuming certain meals no matter how unhealthy some of them may be. Whether greasy bag or Christmas ham or even a hot bowl of ramen, we not only ignore the calories but also the high sodium intake that comes with every meal . And that's why the Ministry Of Health And Wellness is encouraging the population to "Shake The Salt Habit" in a new awareness campaign which tries to reduce public consumption of salty foods:

Robyn Daly, Nutritionist, Ministry of Health and Wellness
"Today's campaign is an integration of nutrition and the Public Health Department. We are focusing on shaking the salt habit and promoting the reduction of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), in particular hypertension and heart disease."

"Hypertension is a risk factor-it's a disease, and it is also a major contributor to heart disease. In my presentation, I will mention the mortality statistics we have in-country. Heart disease is the leading cause of death."

"When we look at the number of people with hypertension in Belize, and the associated risk factors, we see it affecting a large portion of the population."

"Today, and the month of May in general, is a time when we raise salt awareness and highlight World Hypertension Day. It's the perfect opportunity to promote the integration of nutrition into public health-particularly through the Food Handlers Program for vendors-and to emphasize, along with our stakeholders, the importance of salt reduction."

And since we often buy so much of what we eat on a daily, especially the working class, today's forum also addressed those in the food handling sector, moreover how they too can encourage more healthy choices.

John Bodden, Principal Public Health Inspector, MOHW
"What we are trying to do today is actually to streamline and ensure that people who are within the food sector are familiar with what are the procedures and requirements for them to be operating in food establishments. It does not matter if you are an ambulance vendor on the street side, if you are working in the restaurants because there are all requirements for those people who are within the food industry so today we hope to provide that information so people would know what are the basic requirements for them to be engaged in the food sector."

Robyn Daly, Nutritionist, MOHW
"We want to try every angle we can to ensure that people are taking conscious decisions to improve how they are preparing food for us even for us for our families and also the vendors preparing food that we the consumers purchase."

And we all know Belizeans like it salty and spicy. Daly says we have to train our tastebuds.

Robyn Daly, Nutritionist, MOHW
"So, we do have some salt tips. When the video is officially launched, we'll see how to reduce salt, but I can tell you that we have to find a way to train our taste buds to consume less salt because it is a major risk factor for hypertension."

"Even though a lot of our food preparation includes salt and we eat a lot of salty foods, we want to ensure that people can reduce their intake. We're not saying to cut it out completely, but reducing salt will be very beneficial."

"Even if we have affordable but salty foods, there are ways to reduce the salt before consuming them. For example, if something comes in a can-we try to avoid canned food-but if you do use it, rinse it off first."

"Try consuming less. Use herbal seasonings as much as possible. Many times people might consume things like ramen, but you don't have to use the salt packet. You can make your own version and add different ingredients in an affordable way."

"We're not encouraging ramen, by the way-but there are ways that we can still have affordable, low-cost meals that are healthier than buying ramen, so that's what we are trying to promote as well."

Foods high in sodium include processed meats like bacon, ham, and sausage, salty snacks, and soups like Ramen.