Bread at top of UK sodium-rich food purchases: MedlinePlus

Bread at top of UK sodium-rich food purchases


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Wednesday, January 5, 2011
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Dietary Sodium
Nutrition
By Lynne Peeples

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Bread is second only to table salt when it comes to the sodium content of UK food purchases, closely followed by dried package sauces, bacon, milk and cheese, a new report shows.

Researchers say cutting back on sodium in these popular foods could greatly boost public health.

"Sodium intakes remain too high in the U.K. and in many other countries, including the United States," lead researcher Dr. Cliona Ni Mhurchu of the University of Auckland, New Zealand, told Reuters Health in an e-mail.

"There is overwhelming evidence that lower sodium intakes can improve blood pressure and reduce risks of heart disease and stroke."

Salt contains just less than 50 percent sodium. The researchers say slashing daily salt intake from the current 9 grams to below 6 grams per person could prevent about 17,500 premature deaths in the U.S. each year. The ultimate goal would be between 1 and 2 grams of salt a day.

To find out which food contained most sodium, Ni Mhurchu and her colleagues collected information on more than 44,000 food products from some 21,000 households in the U.K., where a sodium reduction program has been underway since 2003.

The average British household bought about 14 grams of salt (5.4 grams of sodium) a day, report the researchers in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Apart from table salt, the single largest contributor of daily sodium, they found the biggest sinners were processed meats at 18 percent, bakery products at 13 percent, dairy products at 12 percent and sauces and spreads at 11 percent.

In each category, bacon, bread, milk and sauces topped the list, respectively. And the top brands had higher sodium contents than other products.

"We should be targeting top-selling products within food categories to produce the greatest effect on sodium available for consumption," said Ni Mhurchu.

The new results are "quite similar" to previous findings in the U.S., Dr. Adam Bernstein of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston told Reuters Health in an e-mail.

However, Australian foods turn out to have considerably higher sodium contents than their U.K. counterparts, suggesting that the U.K. salt reduction program has led to substantial reductions.

"A national salt reduction program comprising a combined policy of persuading the food industry to gradually decrease the amount of sodium added to foods, clear labeling on food products, and increasing public awareness of the harmful effects of salt on health is the most cost-efficient and effective way of reducing salt intakes," said Ni Mhurchu.

She added that about three-quarters of our sodium enters food during processing.

Ni Manchu and her team do note a few limitations to their study. Just because a product is purchased, for example, doesn't mean it is consumed. A lot of table salt may simply sit on a shelf indefinitely.

They also didn't assess foods purchased and eaten outside the home, which account for an estimated 12 percent of an average person's diet.

Regardless, Ni Manchu said a "modest reduction in salt intake could be as beneficial to health as giving up smoking."

"When purchasing processed foods," advised Bernstein, "compare brands and select those with low sodium content; and look out for alternative food flavor enhancers other than salt, such as spices, herbs, garlic and ginger."

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/ibCnU8 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, online December 29, 2010.

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Bread at top of UK sodium-rich food purchases: MedlinePlus