Top sources of salt in the UK diet
The average consumption of salt in the UK is about 9g a day but many people eat much more than this amount. It is recommended that we should reduce our intake by one-third to eat no more than 6g a day. Too much salt is linked with an increase in blood pressure (hypertension) and this increases our risk of strokes, heart attacks and heart failure. If we reduce our salt intake by around 2.5g a day it can reduce our risk of having a stroke or heart attack by one quarter. As a population, for each gram of salt that we cut out of our national average intake, we will save over 6,500 lives each year. We will also prevent over 6,500 heart attacks and strokes each year. It is also widely recognised that a diet high in salt has other adverse effects such as osteoporosis, cancer of the stomach, obesity and exacerbating the symptoms of asthma.
It can be surprising which foods contribute the most salt to our diets. Some foods that we eat every day are not necessarily high in salt but because we eat plenty of them they contribute a lot to our daily salt intake. Salt is naturally present at low levels in all foods but around 80% of our salt intake is hidden in processed food.
Here we have listed the main foods that contribute salt to our diets and the average current amount that they contribute (grams a day) and also some examples of better choices to make in the supermarket. This is not by any means a definitive list of 'culprits' or 'better choices' and the salt level will vary depending on the brand so please check the labels of foods.
Which food groups contribute the most salt to our diet?
- 35% from cereal & cereal products e.g. bread, breakfast cereals, 'morning goods'
- 26% from meat & meat products e.g. bacon & ham, burgers, sausages
- 8% from milk & milk products e.g. milk, cheese
Last updated July 2007