Salt
Eating too much salt is linked to high
blood pressure. This in
turn increases your risk of developing coronary
heart disease. So it’s important that you don’t eat more
than the recommended amount of salt each day.
How much is too much?
Salt often appears as sodium on food
labels. Adults should eat less than 2.5g of sodium. That's
6g of salt a day - about one teaspoon.
To convert sodium to salt, multiply the sodium figure by
2.5.
For pre-prepared foods, look at the ‘amount
per serving’.
There are also daily recommended maximum salt targets for
children depending on their age:
Age
|
Max. salt per day
|
Max. sodium per day
|
| 1-3 yrs |
2g |
0.8g |
| 4-6 yrs |
3g |
1.2g |
| 7-10 yrs |
5g |
2g |
| 11 and older |
6g |
2.5g |
Hidden salt
But it's not just about the salt you add to your food
at the table or while cooking – there’s plenty of hidden salt
to think about too. Products typically high in salt
are:
- crisps
- salted nuts
- canned and packet soups and sauces
- baked beans and other canned vegetables
- pork pies
- processed foods
- pizzas and other ready meals.
Staple foods like bread and breakfast cereals have added salt
too. Because it's in foods we eat so often, the amount of
salt really add up. Salt is also found in sweet
foods like cakes and biscuits, so it's important to
read food labels - they can
help you to choose healthier options for your diet.
A lot or a little per 100g?
A LOT
A LITTLE
1.25g of salt or more
0.25g
of salt
0.5g sodium or more
0.1g
of sodium
What do the traffic light colours mean?
Some food products have traffic light colours
on the label to help you make your choice. With traffic light
colours, you can see at a glance if the food you’re looking at has
high, medium or low amounts of each of these nutrients in 100g of
the food.
Red= High
Amber= Medium
Green= Low
Top tips to reducing your salt intake
Cutting back on salty foods and being aware of how much salt you
eat will help you stay healthy.
- Check the nutritional information on food labels and try to pick low-salt
options.
- Add less salt when cooking and don't add salt to your food
at the table. As you get used to the taste of food without salt,
cut it out completely.
- Flavour your food with pepper, herbs, garlic, spices or
lemon juice instead.
- Swap salty snacks such as crisps and salted nuts with fruit and
vegetables instead.
- Avoid highly salted foods such as bacon, cheese, takeaways,
ready meals and other processed foods.
- Watch out for cooking sauces and seasonings like soy sauce
or jerk seasoning -some of these are very high in
salt.
