The highest amount of salt Americans eat comes from bread, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nearly 50 percent of the salt consumed in the U.S. is linked to popular foods such as baked goods, cold cuts, cured meats, pizza, poultry, soups, sandwiches, cheese, pasta and snacks like pretzels and potato chips. Many items loaded with salt don’t even taste salty.
The study, which involved over 7,000 participants, found that bread accounted for an average of seven percent of daily sodium intake, more than any other individual food item. Bread may not contain the highest amount of salt per serving, but the fact that people eat it more often and in larger quantities than most other foods makes it a leading contributor to high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.
The average American consumes about 3,250 milligrams of salt per day, far more than what’s recommended by the government’s Dietary Guidelines, which is 2,300 milligrams for healthy adults and 1,500 milligrams for high blood pressure and heart disease patients. Over 30 percent of the adult population suffer from high blood pressure, according to the CDC.
Most consumers are not aware that they are getting too much salt. What makes matters worse is that they could not easily change that even if they wanted to. “Most sodium comes from common grocery store and restaurant items and only a very small portion from the shaker at the table,” Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the Director of the CDC, told reporters. “People can choose how much salt they add to their food at the table,” he said, “but they can’t take it out once it’s there.”
In fact, over 60 percent of the salt consumed by Americans is found in processed foods, about 25 percent in restaurant meals and the remainder from other sources such as vending machines and extra salt added at home, according to CDC statistics.
Dr. Frieden called for food manufacturers and restaurant owners to reduce the amount of salt they apply to their products. It is estimated that a 25 percent reduction in salt content in the most popular food items could save tens of thousands of lives every year.
Food industry representatives have responded by saying that reducing sodium would adversely affect taste and may also violate food safety standards because salt is commonly used as a preservative.
The CDC study report was released in the February edition of the journal “Vital Signs,” just in time to coincide with “Heart Health Month.” Sodium is well known to raise blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. More than 800,000 Americans die each year from these diseases.
Health experts have long advised that people with heart problems should avoid processed and packaged foods as much as possible and eat more fresh produce instead. With regards to bread, it is important to read the Nutrition Facts labels. Sodium content in different breads can considerably vary between 80 and well over 200 milligrams. Other items like canned soups can have a wide sodium range from 100 to well over 900 milligrams, depending on the brand. Many fast food choices and TV dinners contain astronomical amounts of salt, often more than the recommended daily values in just one serving.
Asking food manufacturers and restaurants to voluntarily change the ways they use salt has not been shown to be very effective, although there are exceptions. Other than through legislation, the only promising approach would be consumer demand. If grocery store owners found that customers prefer low-sodium products and restaurant patrons asked to have salt reduced or eliminated in their dishes, we could see some positive changes over time.
Timi Gustafson R.D. is a clinical dietitian and author of the book “The Healthy Diner – How to Eat Right and Still Have Fun”, which is available on her blog, “Food and Health with Timi Gustafson R.D.” (http://www.timigustafson.com), and at amazon.com. You can follow Timi on Twitter (http://twitter.com/TimiGustafsonRD) and on Facebook.
