The (political) science of salt revisited.

Aburto and colleagues present a meta-analysis in adults on the effect of sodium reduction on blood pressure and other variables. With minor exceptions, this article is similar to another meta-analysis in the same issue of the BMJ; this again is similar to a 2004 Cochrane review,which is a minimal update of a previous analysis. Furthermore Aburto and colleagues’ current meta-analysis of population studies is almost identical to a meta-analysis published by the BMJ in 2009. Finally, the article also contains a meta-analysis on the effect of sodium reduction in children, which is an update of a 2006 analysis with one study added. The conclusion of the analysis is not justified by the data, but that is not the point. The interesting question is why the BMJ uses so much space on the publication. The answer may be that the science of salt is not scientific, but political. Competing interests: None declared.