New guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Clincial Excellence (Nice) has suggested reducing salt and saturated fat in diets would slash the number of deaths resulting from cardiovascular disease. It added that 40,000 people die prematurely every year from the "largely avoidable" condition - which includes heart disease and stroke.
Small dietary changes across the country could translate into huge improvements in public health and save millions of pounds every year, the group has claimed. Nearly six million people in the UK are living with the disabling effects of cardiovascular disease, putting "substantial" strain on the NHS.
The organisation has set out a series of measures designed to make it easier for people to live a healthier lifestyle.
According to the experts, chemically-altered vegetable oils - trans fats - should be banned from food. Other guidelines include speeding up the reduction in salt intake across the UK population.
Cutting daily salt intake by 3g to a maximum level of 6g for adults by 2015 would prevent up to 20,000 deaths from cardiovascular disease, Nice claims.
Professor Mike Kelly, Nice public health director, said the aim is to reduce the "terrible toll of ill health". He added: "This isn't about telling individuals to choose salad instead of chips - it's about making sure that the chips we all enjoy occasionally are as healthy as possible."
Paul Lincoln of the National Heart Forum said: "We want to see the next generation growing up largely free from potentially avoidable conditions such as heart disease and stroke, which have a devastating impact on our society.
"We have the public health evidence on how to virtually eliminate these conditions, so it's vital to take action now to save lives."
According to Nice, this is the first time all the evidence has been brought together to illustrate the link between changes to food production and public health.
Other recommendations put forward include:
:: Ensuring foods low in salt and saturated fat are sold more cheaply;
:: Establishing the 'traffic light' food labelling system as the national standard;
:: Encouraging local authorities to restrict planning permission for fast food outlets near schools;
:: Tighter regulation of the way food is marketed to children, with a possible 9pm television watershed.
