The Heart Foundation recommends a daily maximum of 5g of salt (2000mg sodium) which is about a teaspoon. Studies have shown the most Australians are eating roughly 9g of salt a day.
Basically, the more processing a food has been through, the more likely salt has been added along the way.
The good news is that salt preference is an acquired taste that can be unlearned. It only takes about 6-8 weeks to get used to eating food with much lower quantities of salt.
Around 75% of the salt we eat is already in everyday foods such as bread, breakfast cereal and ready meals.
These include:
- Tomato sauce, mustard, barbeque sauce, chutneys and soy sauces.
- Processed meats such as ham, bacon, sausages, luncheon, canned corned beef, smoked chicken and smoked fish.
- Takeaways.
- Biscuits, muffins, cakes, sauces, pizza, burgers, pasta, and noodle dishes.
- Bread, breakfast foods, and other products made from cereals and grains.
- Ready-made pasta sauces.
What can we do?
It is important to remember that all types of salt, including pink Himalayan, rock salt, black salt, table salt and sea salt contain the same amount of sodium. Sodium is the part of salt that can be damaging to health.
- Become a label-checker and read food labels as a matter of course.
- Compare various brands of the same food item until you find the one that has the lowest sodium content.
- When buying frozen vegetables, choose those that are labelled ‘fresh frozen’ and do not contain added seasoning or sauces.
- Select spices or seasonings that do not list sodium on their labels.
- When doing your food shopping, about 40% of your trolley should be filled with vegetables and fruit. Fresh, frozen, canned fruit and vegetables are all great options as long as they don’t have added salt.
- Use fresh, rather than packaged, meats.
- Go for reduced-salt unsmoked back bacon. Cured meats and fish can be high in salt.
- If you eat takeaways one day a week, watch your salt intake for the rest of that week.
- Don’t add salt to your food automatically – taste it first.
- If you are going to have crisps or crackers, check the label and choose the ones lower in salt.
- Go easy on soy sauce, mustard, pickles, mayonnaise, tomato ketchup and other table sauces.
- Try black pepper as seasoning instead of salt. Use it on pasta, scrambled egg, pizza, fish, and soup.
- Try baking or roasting vegetables such as red peppers, tomatoes, courgettes, fennel, parsnips, and squash to bring out their flavour.
- Make your own stock and gravy instead of using cubes or granules or look out for reduced-salt products.
