salty foods lead to thirsty children,which in turn leads to increased sales of soft drinks, they suggest.Steve Chsndler of the Snack, Nut and Crisp Manufacturers' Association,which respresents companies such as Walkers,KP (makers of hula hoops)andgolden wonder,yesterday dismissed such theories as total nonsense and claimed that in the past 10 years,the industry had worked hard to reduce salt level,which escalated in the lated in the late 1970s and 80s with a massive increase in the number and variety of snack products on the market. We've managed to pull it back to the tune of 25% over the past 10 years We do listen to what the expert advice is. We do llisten to hat consumers say. We put a lot of time and effort into trying to improve the nutritional aspects of our products.