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. 2026 Jan 1;44(1):1-5.
doi: 10.1097/HJH.0000000000004199. Epub 2025 Nov 13.

Potassium-enriched salt for patients with hypertension: a Hypertension Australia and National Hypertension Taskforce of Australia Position Statement

Xiaoyue Xu  1   2 , Mary-Anne Land  2 , Sharon James  3 , Clara Chow  4   5   6 , Jun Yang  7   8 , James E Sharman  9 , Jonathan Golledge  10   11 , Breonny Robson  12 , Audrey Lee  13 , Charlotte Hespe  14 , Chris Campbell  15 , Lisa Murphy  16 , Geoffrey C Cloud  17 , Anthony Rodgers  2 , Jessica Seeto  18 , Nigel P Stocks  19 , Tim Usherwood  2   5   20 , Mark R Nelson  9 , Markus P Schlaich  21   22 , Bruce Neal  2   23 , Aletta E Schutte  1   2
Affiliations

Potassium-enriched salt for patients with hypertension: a Hypertension Australia and National Hypertension Taskforce of Australia Position Statement

Xiaoyue Xu et al. J Hypertens. .

Abstract

Introduction: High blood pressure remains the leading risk factor for cardiovascular and all-cause deaths in Australia. Higher sodium and lower potassium intake are well established risk factors for elevated blood pressure and increased cardiovascular disease risk. Despite decades of global public health efforts, progress in reducing sodium and increasing potassium intake has been limited. The WHO recommends potassium-enriched salt as an effective, affordable, and scalable strategy to lower blood pressure by simultaneously reducing sodium and increasing potassium intake. This position statement was developed to support implementation and address this public health priority.

Main recommendations: For patients with hypertension, core dietary recommendations should include reducing sodium by limiting the regular salt added when cooking and at the table, choosing low-salt foods and increasing potassium intake through fruit and vegetable intake. When these changes are challenging, switching regular salt with potassium-enriched salt offers a practical alternative. We recommend including this switch as an additional dietary recommendation in clinical hypertension guidelines. Suggested wording: 'If patients add salt to their food, they should make a 1 : 1 switch from regular salt to potassium-enriched salt with a composition of approximately 75% sodium chloride and 25% potassium chloride, unless they are at risk of hyperkalaemia because of kidney disease, use of a potassium supplement, use of a potassium sparing diuretic or for another reason." Routine kidney health checks are recommended to support safe implementation.

Changes in management: We advocate for the inclusion of this recommendation in future hypertension management guidelines. Systematic, nation-wide implementation of potassium-enriched salt as a replacement for regular salt should be prioritized as a scalable public health intervention. We call for further research into the impact of potassium-enriched salt in patients with kidney disease, the general population unscreened for hyperkalaemia risk, and patients using different antihypertensive regimens.

Keywords: hypertension; position statement; potassium-enriched salt.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors were requested to declare any financial or nonfinancial conflicts of interest in accordance with Australian Government National Health and Medical Research Council and Universities Australia Policy (Reference R41E). These are as follows: M.P.S. is a board member (Chair) of Hypertension Australia, Steering Committee member (Co-Chair) for the National Hypertension Taskforce, board member (President Elect) of the World Hypertension League, and Trustee on the management board of May Measure Month. He has received research support Medtronic, Abbott, ReCor, Boehringer Ingelheim, Novartis, Astra Zeneca and Idorsia. He has received travel support and/or speaker fees from Medtronic, Abbott, Merck, Astra Zeneca and Idorsia. He serves on scientific advisory boards, for Medtronic, Astra Zeneca, Eli Lilly and Kardigan. B.N. has a strong interest in research and translation efforts addressing the use of potassium-enriched salts. A.E.S. is the Co-Chair of the National Hypertension Taskforce of Australia, board member of Hypertension Australia, Company Secretary of the Australian Cardiovascular Alliance, Trustee on the Management Board of May Measure Month, and co-Chair of STRIDE BP. A.E.S. has received speaker honoraria from Servier, Abbott, Sanofi, AstraZeneca, Medtronic, Omron and Aktiia and serves on scientific advisory boards for Medtronic, Alnylam, AstraZeneca, SiSU Health and Sky Labs. A.E.S. is employed at the University of New South Wales and The George Institute for Global Health (TGI), which holds an interest in George Medicines Pty Ltd (GM) via its social enterprise arm, George Institute Ventures. She has no personal financial interest in GM nor has received funding for her independent contribution to the GMRx2 program. T.G.I. holds patents for ultra-low-dose fixed-dose combination products for the treatment of hypertension and diabetes (Granted: US 10,369,15; US 10,799,487; US 10,322,117; US 11,033,544; US 11,478,462; Pending: US 17/932,982; US 18/446,268; US 17/598,122; US 17/317,614; US 17/527,084; US 17/527,085; US 17/527,087). A.E.S. is funded by an Investigator Grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (APP2017504). S.J. is a Board Director of the Australian Primary Healthcare Nurses Association. C.C. is a NHMRC investigator grant recipient and is an investigator on current MRFF and NHMRC grants. C.C. is a member of the WSLHD Board & National Heart Foundation Board. She has previously received grants from NSW Health, Australian Digital Health Agency, Google, and previously received speakers’ fees from several organisations including Novartis, Limbic, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Amgen. T.G.I. has submitted patent applications with respect to low fixed-dose combination products for the treatment of cardiovascular and cardiometabolic disease. C.C. is listed as an inventor but does not have direct financial interests in these patent applications or investments. J.E.S. is a Board member of Hypertension Australia; a steering committee member for the National Hypertension Taskforce and; a Scientific Advisory Board member for STRIDE BP. J.G. is supported by grants from Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (GNT2041176/GNT2026319/GNT1180736), Medical Research Futures Fund (MRF2032898/MRF2022807/MRF2015979/MRF2015817/MRF2015999), Queensland Government (SCRF), Heart Foundation and Townsville Hospital and Health Services. J.Y. is funded by an Investigator Grant from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (APP1194576). C.H. is a member for the National Hypertension Taskforce. She is involved in MRFF-funded research, including studies on blood pressure management, and has provided independent advice to various medical education organisations. C.H. has received speaker honoraria and/or serves on GP expert Advisory panels for AstraZeneca, CSL, Moderna, MSD, Novartis, Novo Nordisk and Pfizer. She has no financial ties to producers of potassium-enriched salt or related supplements. A.R. is employed by The George Institute for Global Health (TGI) and Imperial College London. T.G.I. has submitted patent applications for low-dose combination products for hypertension and A.R. is listed as an inventor. George Medicines Pty Ltd (GM) is a subsidiary of T.G.I., holds a license for these patents and has received investment to develop these combination therapies. A.R. is seconded part-time to GM. A.G. has no financial interest in these patents or in GM. L.M. is a Steering Committee member for the National Hypertension Taskforce and Chief Executive Officer of Stroke Foundation. All other authors have no interests to declare.

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