What WHO actually recommends
WHO suggests potassium-containing lower-sodium salt substitutes when adults in the general population choose to use table salt, as one part of a broader sodium-reduction strategy [2]. The recommendation is conditional rather than a universal clinical prescription.
That is materially different from telling every cookbook reader to buy potassium chloride and swap it gram for gram into every recipe.
Sources for this section: [2] Use of lower-sodium salt substitutes: WHO guideline
Who is outside that general recommendation
The WHO scope excludes people with kidney impairment and others whose circumstances or treatments can compromise potassium excretion [2]. It also excludes children and pregnant women because the guideline did not establish the same recommendation for them.
A public recipe cannot know a reader’s kidney function or medication list. The safest general cookbook baseline is therefore not to rely on potassium salt substitute as a hidden default ingredient.
Sources for this section: [2] Use of lower-sodium salt substitutes: WHO guideline
What the cookbook can do instead
Recipes can reduce sodium through ingredient selection, smaller amounts of salty condiments and stronger non-salt flavour construction [1]. That approach is useful whether or not an individual later chooses a lower-sodium salt substitute.
If a recipe offers one as an optional variation, the potassium boundary needs to be prominent rather than buried in fine print.
Sources for this section: [1] Sodium reduction · [2] Use of lower-sodium salt substitutes: WHO guideline
Keep treatment decisions outside the recipe
Someone using medications or managing kidney, cardiovascular or endocrine conditions may need individualized advice about potassium. A cookbook should not infer that advice from the fact that sodium reduction is generally beneficial.
This is a good example of the project’s rule that conservative formulation does not mean choosing the most restrictive number or replacement for everyone.
Sources for this section: [2] Use of lower-sodium salt substitutes: WHO guideline
Sources
- Sodium reduction
World Health Organization. Sodium reduction fact sheet. 11 May 2026. Verified 1 Sept 2026. - Use of lower-sodium salt substitutes: WHO guideline
World Health Organization. Use of lower-sodium salt substitutes: WHO guideline. 27 January 2025. Verified 1 Sept 2026.
