New research from the Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) suggests that cheese is unnecessarily salty, with Britain's most popular cheese - cheddar - containing more salt than a packet of crisps per portion.

CASH say cheese is a big part of the UK diet, bought by over 98% of households and is the third biggest contributor of salt to the UK diet, after bread and bacon.

Katharine Jenner, from the CASH group, told today presenter Justin Webb that "we don't say at any point don't eat cheese... but we are asking [cheese manufacturers] to reduce salt in cheese by, say, 10%."

Dr Judith Bryans, director of the Dairy Council, explained that "salt is not added to cheese to add flavour... it is actually an integral part of the cheese making process."

"You need salt to mature the cheese safely" she added.

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