Food Labelling: Salt.
How often do you add salt to your meals whilst cooking or before you start eating? Salt increases the flavour of our food some of us add salt to our dishes and some of us never added salt but it is important to consider how much salt we are consuming in one day. A diet high in salt can be associated with negative health consequences such as high blood pressure¹.
Hidden Salt
As salt is a flavour, often we can be unaware that it has been added to food products and so can go unnoticed². For example, approximately 75% of the salt we consume is added to everyday foods such as breads³. It is therefore important to read the label to know what is in the product. For instance, a delicious dish from a well known Asian restaurant contains 7.12g of salt per serving. It is important to be aware of hidden salt in foods.
Salt: The Recommendations.
The current recommendation is that adults should not consume more than 6g of salt a day⁴. However, UK findings from 2018/19 conclude that the average salt intake for adults aged 19 to 64 years is 8.4g/day. This means that the average UK adult consumes 40% more than this⁵.
Salt: Food Labelling.
On the food label, salt sometimes comes under "sodium". This can be confusing as to calculate the salt content you need to times the sodium value by 2.5⁶. For example if the sodium content is 3.25g it therefore means the salt content is approximately 8.13g.
For traffic light labeling on front of packaging, the guidelines for salt are⁷:Adapted from FoP guidance: table 2 criteria for 100g of food (whether or not it is sold by volume).
Low. Green, which means it contains less than 0.3g of salt.
Medium. Amber, which means it contains between 0.3g and 1.5g of salt.
High. Red, which means it contains more than 1.5g of salt.
Salt: Labelling terms.
Low sodium/ salt - The food product contains no more than 0.12g of sodium or 0.3g of salt per 100g/ ml.
Very low sodium/ salt - The food product contains no more than 0.04g of sodium or 0.1g of salt per 100g/ ml.
Sodium/ salt free - The food product contains no more than 0.005g of sodium or approx 0.01g of salt per 100g/ ml.
No added sodium/ salt - No sodium has been added to the food product and that the food product contains no more than 0.12g of sodium or 0.3g of salt per 100g/ ml.
Salt: Our Advice.
Added Salt. As well as considering the amount of salt being added to home cooked meals, consider the salt contents in pre packaged foods.
Alternatives. Try to opt for unsalted alternatives, for example picking unsalted nuts over salted nuts.
Adding flavour to meals - try flavouring home cooked meals with spices and herbs instead of salt this way you are increasing the flavour of meals without increasing your salt intake. Examples of spices you can try include lemon, turmeric, cayenne pepper/chilli, ginger and paprika. Alternatively, you can use different herbs such as oregano, thyme, nutmeg and cardamon.
Reducing salt over time (If more than 6g/day) - If you currently are adding salt to your meals, try slowly reducing your intake over time, this way your taste buds are less likely to notice the difference in taste.
Check out Charlotte Radcliffe. Follow Charlotte on Instagram @The_Nutrition_Consultant and check out her post on salt in food per 100g.
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