An OCU study analyses the presence of salt in 209 foods

OCU has conducted a study on the presence of salt in 209 processed foods. The results of this study indicate that salt in processed foods has increased by 6% compared to a similar survey carried out in 2010.
The full results of this study are published in number 112 of the magazine OCU Salud (the OCU health magazine)
Excess salt intake in the diet can be a health problem since, among other serious problems, it  can cause hypertension. Studies carried out by the Spanish Agency for Food Safety (AESAN) point out that people in Spain eat ​​double the salt (10 g) recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) (5g) for the general population. These studies also reveal that 75% of the salt we eat every day comes from processed foods.

OCU has analysed in the laboratory 209 processed food products from among the most common in our diet, such as meat, fish, bread, chips, pizza, tuna, rice dishes and pasta among others, to study their salt content. The data was compared with that obtained in a similar study in 2010 and so it shows the evolution of the amount of salt in food in recent years.
According to the OCU data salt content in foods has grown by an average of 6%, although the evolution has not been similar in all food groups. In 10 of them (croquettes and dumplings, frozen and canned vegetables, rice dishes and pasta, cream soups and broths, tomato sauce, canned tuna and mussels, pizza, cheese, bread and chips) the percentage of salt has gone down, in 4 of them the salt has increased: meat and fish ready meals, baby surami eels, fuet (a hard salami type sausage typical of Catalunya) and boiled ham and especially pastries and biscuits, where salt has increased 118%.

Bread warrants a special mention as a product, the daily consumption of which accounts for almost half of the daily recommended intake of salt (2.2 g). In 2006 we saw how the percentage of salt in bread had gone down as a result of the agreement reached between the manufacturers and the public administration. However, the results of the OCU analysis show that the presence of salt has increased by 16% compared to 2006.
The findings of OCU are clear, there is an excess of salt in processed foods that in the opinion of OCU is avoidable. If you want to control the daily amount of salt consumed, then it is necessary to reduce the amount of processed food that you eat and eat homemade food which is healthier in this respect.

For those who need to restrict their salt intake OCU gives a number of recommendations:
•  Limit those processed foods with a high salt content such as soups and broths, cured meats and salamis, surimi, etc.
•  In the nutritional information on the packaging, compare the amount of salt between brands, choosing those which have less. If the amount is expressed in sodium, multiply by 2.5 to know the salt content.
•  In homemade meals replace salt with garlic, lemon, herbs or spices to enhance the flavour.
Finally, OCU reminds manufacturers that it is both possible and necessary to make food with less salt and calls on them to agree jointly to gradually reduce the salt content to help improve the health of consumers.
More information: www.ocu.org/sal
For more information (media) Eva Jimenez Tel:   917 226 061
prensa@ocu.org