Written by Catherine Saxelby on Wednesday, 07 August 2013.
A. To be classified as a low-salt (low sodium) food, the official cut-off figure is 120 milligrams sodium or less per 100 grams. This applies to all unsalted foods as it takes into account the small quantity of natural sodium present in foods.
But at this low level, it can be hard to produce good-tasting foods. So for breads, cereals, soups and cracker biscuits, anything below 400mg is considered acceptable. Some organisations are even more lenient and set their cut-off higher at 600mg or less to encourage manufacturers to gradually decrease what's being added.
Jatz crackers | 665mg |
Cheddar cheese | 655mg |
Potato crisps | 640mg |
Bread, white or wholemeal | 570mg |
French fries | 340mg |
Just so you can see how much you’ll save in sodium if you shop for low-salt products or make the switch from highly-salted processed foods, compare these two food examples:
Canned tuna in brine | 415mg | |
Canned tuna in water | 82mg | SAVING OF 333mg sodium |
Ham | 1480mg | |
Pork steak, cooked | 72mg | SAVING OF 1408mg sodium |
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