Canadians need to break their addiction to salt, and food manufacturers need to help, concludes a new report from a federally-appointed task force on sodium.

The Sodium Working Group released six general and 27 specific recommendations in its report Thursday that call for manufacturers to voluntarily lower the sodium content of their products over time.

The aim is to lower Canadians' average daily sodium intake by about a third, to 2,300 milligrams, by 2016. That's the figure considered the upper daily limit of sodium for most adults; 1,500 milligrams is considered the recommended intake.

But most Canadians go well over both figures, averaging about 3,400 mg every day. And almost 80 per cent of that coming from processed food and restaurant food.

In order to cut Canadians' sodium intake by a third, the "Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada" suggests:

• amending Canada's food-labelling system to make sodium levels more clear to consumers
• reduce the Nutrition Facts table's "daily value" for sodium from 2,400 mg to 1,500 mg
• prominent placement of sodium information at chain restaurants (which tend to serve standardized fare)
• consumer education campaigns that warn of the dangers of high sodium
• setting up an online mechanism for companies to commit to the sodium-reduction strategy
• establish a system to track how much sodium restaurants and food companies voluntarily cut sodium from their products

"The ultimate goal is to lower sodium intake for as many individuals as possible below the Tolerable Upper Intake Level of 2,300 mg per day," explained Dr. Norm Campbell, a member of the Sodium Working Group's Steering Committee and the director of Hypertension Canada.

Research suggests that reducing dietary sodium to recommended levels could prevent about 11,000 to 15,000 premature deaths from heart disease and strokes each year.

Cutting hospitalizations caused by excess sodium would also save the health system $1.5 billion each year, Dr. Mary L'Abbe, director of Health Canada's Bureau of Nutritional Sciences, said.

"Salt is actually one of the major risk factors for hypertension, which in turn leads to elevated risks for cardiovascular disease, stroke, and a number of other diseases," L'Abbe told CTV News Channel.

"Some studies have said that if we can get our sodium down, we can just as much impact on our health as, for example, reducing tobacco use by 50 per cent, treating a lot of people with drugs for hypertension. So it's a really effective strategy – and cost effective, for that matter – for getting at these health problems."

Food and Consumer Products of Canada, which represents food makers in Canada, suggested that while it was committed to lowering sodium, changes wouldn't happen overnight.

"...It's important for Canadians to know that lowering sodium to the interim target level set by the Working Group is uncharted territory for the industry, so it is going to take time," Phyllis Tanaka, vice-president, scientific and regulatory affairs with food policy at FCPC said in a statement.

The Sodium Working Group's 25 members acknowledged that reducing sodium is complex. That's because salt and other sodium-based ingredients are used not just to add flavour to foods, but as a preservative, an antibacterial agent, and for the texture and structure of foods.

Still, the group notes that Canadians take in more than double the sodium we need, leading to elevated blood pressure -- the leading preventable risk factor for death worldwide.

Though the report -- two years in the making -- was long anticipated, it's unclear whether health stakeholders will be pleased with the working group's recommendations. Many had been calling for stiff government regulations to ensure that sodium targets would be met.

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said she welcomed the blueprint, but stopped short of committing to implementing the 27 recommendations.

"Over the coming months, Health Canada will be working with its federal, provincial and territorial partners to assess the recommendations made by the working group and determine how they can best be addressed," she said in a statement.