We are often told that too much salt and sodium is harmful to our health, but do you know how much salt your favourite store-bought items contain?

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, it’s important to discuss how much salt we should be consuming daily. The recommended amount of salt we should be consuming is 5g per day which is equivalent to 1 teaspoon of salt or 2300mg of sodium.

DID YOU KNOW: SODIUM CONTENT OF STORE BOUGHT FOODS
Reading labels and comparing products is so important. You may not think that you are consuming a lot of salt because you don’t add much salt to your food when cooking, but many of the store-bought products we use daily contain hidden salt.

BREAKFAST CEREALS
When it comes to breakfast cereals, Oats comes up tops. It contains a lot less sodium than most other cereals and it’s high in protein and fibre.

CANNED FOODS
Many canned foods contain extra sodium so it is always best to eat fresh, non-processed fruit and vegetables. But what if you are looking for a quick, convenient meal or if a recipe calls for baked beans or tinned tomato? From the table below, it is easy to see that as soon as the manufacturer adds other flavours to the basic product, the salt content increases.

The bottom line when it comes to canned foods is that plain is always better – rather opt for plain chopped and peeled tomatoes and add your own garlic or fresh herbs. That way you can control the amount you add and you won’t be consuming so much added salt.

CONDIMENTS
The easiest way to reduce your salt intake is to compare your favourite spreads or sauces and pick the one with the lowest sodium content. We often tend to opt for the cheapest tomato sauce or mayonnaise so try comparing the two cheapest products. Remember: even a small reduction in salt/sodium can make a big difference.