Do You Know Where Salt Is Hiding in Your Food?

Studies show that cutting down on sodium in your diet can lower blood pressure — reducing your risk of stroke, heart failure and other health problems.

A huge 85 per cent of the salt we consume each year - 220,000 tons - is added by the UK food industry and is enough to fill St Paul's Cathedral.

Despite the clear recommended daily allowance of 6g for an adult, as a nation, we're eating more salt than ever - and more often than not, we don't even realise how much salt in our food in the first place.

The NHS recommends that adults eat no more than 6g of salt per day, and the figure is even less for under 11s.

According to the official guidelines, children aged 1 to 3 years should consume no more than 2g a day, those aged 4 to 6 years no more than 3g, and 7-to-10 year olds no more than 5g.

However, despite these clear recommended daily allowances, as a nation, we’re eating more salt than ever – and more often than not, we don’t even realise how much of it is in our food in the first place.

Some foods we know are going to give us a pretty big hit – a bag of ready salted crisps, for instance, or a piping hot bundle of chip shop chips. Even our weekend treat fry-up is usually served with a generous hit of crispy, salty bacon – and that’s why we have it as a treat.

Isn’t sea salt healthier?

Sea salt is generally marketed as a “natural” and “healthier” alternative.

The main differences between sea salt and table salt are in taste, texture and processing. Sea salt has a stronger flavour. However, what people should remember is that both sea salt and table salt have the same amount of sodium by weight.

In fact other forms of salt such as rock and other high salt flavour enhancers like stock cubes and Soya sauce should also be avoided also.

Should I just stop using the salt shaker?

It does help to avoid adding salt to your food at the table, but unfortunately, a major part of the sodium in our diets — almost 80 percent — comes from processed and packaged foods. These foods can be high in sodium even if they don’t taste salty.

Processed foods include:

·         Frozen meals.

·         Canned or pickled foods.

·         Snack foods.

·         Deli meat.

·         Cheese.

·         Condiments, sauces and dressings.

·         Breads.

·         Cereals.

·         Fizzy drinks (including diet ones).

Checking labels is the only way to know how much sodium is in your food. If you buy packaged or processed foods, choose foods that are labelled “sodium-free” or “very low sodium.”

Also, remember that the amount of sodium listed on the ingredient label references a particular serving size. If you eat more than the listed serving size, you’ll consume more sodium.

How much sodium is in popular foods?

The hidden salt in your food:

Here are eight foods which have hidden high salt levels:

•Bread (half a gram a slice)

•Biscuits (half a gram in two biscuits)

•Canned soup (three grams)

•Cornflakes (one gram)

•Chicken nuggets (two to three grams of salt is often contained in the coating on the nuggets)

•Ready-made Indian meal (two to three grams)

•Pizza (two and a half grams)

•50 grams of Stilton cheese (one gram)

Recent studies show that a half-teaspoon reduction in salt intake a day would reduce strokes in the UK by 25 per cent and heart attacks by 16 per cent.

However the labels on most foods don't say how much salt there is in a product, and instead give the sodium content per 100g of food. To convert sodium to salt you need to multiply the amount of sodium by 2.5 ie: one gram of sodium per 100g equals 2.5 grams of salt per 100g.

My advice - switch to more fresh foods such as fruit, vegetables, fish, chicken and lean meat which are high in potassium and therefore help lower blood pressure.