Following concerns that Australia’s high salt intake and heart disease, well-known bread and cereal manufacturers have agreed to reduce the sodium content of their products.

The parliamentary secretary for health, Mark Butler, stated that Allied Mills and Cripps Nubake, George Weston Foods, Coles and Aldi, Goodman Fielder Baking, and Woolworths, by the end of 2013 had agreed to reduce sodium in bread products to 400 milligrams per 100 grams.

Other manufacturers of cereals, including Sanitarium, Kelloggs, and Cereal Partners Worldwide, also stated that they would join the league too by reducing sodium content by 15 per cent over four years.

Butler said, “Together the groups represented more than 80 per cent of the market for bread products and about 60 per cent of the market for ready-to-eat breakfast cereals. These agreed targets give industry a level playing field and certainty on expectations.”

According to professor Garry Jennings, of the heart and diabetes institute Baker IDI, reducing sodium was a welcome first step in the battle to reduce Australians' salt intake. He added that fast food outlets and restaurants should also follow these guidelines.

He said, ''Research shows that one in three meals are eaten outside of the home now, so we need to reduce the salt in these foods too.”