Potassium-enriched salt is a practical, low-cost population-level intervention for preventing non-communicable diseases. Here we modelled the health effects of replacing regular salt with potassium-enriched salt under five scenarios using comparative risk assessment: (1) replacement of all added salt; (2) replacement of discretionary salt used in home cooking and seasoning; (3) replacement of non-discretionary salt used in processed and restaurant foods; (4) replacement of discretionary salt among diagnosed hypertensives; and (5) replacement of discretionary salt among treated hypertensives. Worldwide replacement of all salt could prevent 2.96 (95% uncertainty interval 2.81–3.12) million deaths, 10.17 (9.59–10.70) million new cases and 69.43 (65.61–72.92) million disability-adjusted life years each year from cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease. These correspond to 14.6% deaths, 13.1% new cases and 16.5% disability-adjusted life years attributable to these conditions annually. Replacement of discretionary salt (1.85, 1.74–1.97 million) would prevent more deaths than replacement of non-discretionary salt (1.56, 1.46–1.67 million). Targeting only diagnosed or treated hypertensives would prevent 0.59 million (0.55–0.63) and 0.48 million (0.45–0.52) deaths, respectively. In people with advanced chronic kidney disease, replacing all salt might cause 0.10 (0.09–0.11) million deaths from hyperkalaemia but would prevent 0.75 (0.71–0.80) million deaths from blood pressure lowering. These findings support the switch from regular salt to potassium-enriched salt.
