According to Fernando Araújo, the measure is being analysed with the Directorate General of Health (DGS) and the baking industry which has shown "great openness" to producing bread with less salt.

The current law imposes as a maximum limit of salt on bread 1.4 grams for every 100 grams of bread, while "countries like England are already at a single gram," he said.

Araújo recalled that a third of the Portuguese population suffers from high blood pressure and the country has the highest stroke rates in Europe.

"Something has to be done," he said in an interview with Lusa News Agency.

The agreement signed with the baking industry establishes that by 2021 the amount of salt in bread will be reduced until it reaches 1 gram of salt per 100 grams of product.

This is "a four-year target, at the end of which salt in bread will be reduced by 30%," he said.

The agreement will now become law and it will be up to the Dr. Ricardo Jorge National Institute of Health (INSA) to carry out "an annual sampling plan of bakeries all over the country" to see if bakeries are complying with the law.

"The baking industry has shown a great deal of openness to reshaping how bread is produced, including traditional breads that are excluded from the current law," he said.

According to Araújo, bakeries that rachieveing the target before 2021 will be allowed to use a quality seal that can be posted in their establishment.