Replacing regular table salt with a lower-sodium, potassium-enriched version could eventually prevent up to 2.96 million deaths and 10.17 million new cardiovascular disease cases worldwide each year, according to projections by researchers in Australia and the U.S.

The strategy targets excess sodium, which is linked to high blood pressure and other cardiovascular problems; efforts to persuade people to cut salt directly have largely failed, while potassium chloride can partly replace sodium chloride.

The projected benefits come from both lowering sodium and increasing potassium, and even the least extensive of five modeled adoption scenarios could prevent roughly half a million deaths annually.

The World Health Organization endorsed salt enriched with 25% potassium for general public use in 2025 as one way to reduce sodium intake.

Taste studies suggest the change may be acceptable to many people: in a 2016 trial, 80% of participants could not distinguish or preferred a mix containing 30% potassium, and more than 90% said the same of a 15% mix.

These figures are projections, not immediate gains; changing food supplies would take years and considerable effort.

People concerned about sodium intake and cardiovascular risk may consider switching to potassium-enriched salt, but it carries health risks for some individuals.

In particular, potassium-enriched salt can increase the risk of hyperkalemia, especially for people with chronic kidney disease; researchers estimated that more than seven cardiovascular deaths could be prevented for each death potentially caused in this group.