A British group is calling on the food industry to cut down on the amount of processed salt in its products, citing a new study finding that less salt can save thousands of lives.

The study, appearing in the Dec. 1 issue of the journal Hypertension, finds that reducing sodium intake from the average of 12 grams per day to 3 grams would prevent 20,500 stroke deaths and 31,400 deaths from heart disease each year in the United Kingdom.

It further suggests that reducing salt by just one gram a day would save 6,000 lives a year, the Times of London reports.

The newspaper says that a group called Consensus Action on Salt and Health immediately demanded that the food industry reduce the amount of sodium in processed foods. This could be done without the public being involved or even noticing.