CSPI accuses food makers of making excuses on sodium
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has long been campaigning for action on sodium, including a call for warning labels on salty foods, and even to strip salt of its GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status in the US. The Canadian government recommends that healthy adults should consume no more than 2,300mg of sodium a day. Currently Canadians far exceed these limits, consuming more than double the maximum on average, and it is estimated that packaged foods contribute 70 to 80 percent of sodium in the Canadian diet.
This new CSPI report, entitled Salty to a Fault, examined the sodium content in different brands across 49 food categories and noted some large differences between products. It found that of French fries, for example, ranged in sodium content from 40mg per 70-gram serving (leaving salting to the consumer), to 555mg of sodium.
CSPI’s national coordinator Bill Jeffery said: “Our scan makes it clear that many companies can and do make foods with much less added salt than their competitors, despite claims they must use lots to make dough rise, preserve food, and give foods acceptable taste and texture.”
But many food manufacturers have been making efforts to reduce sodium in their foods. The industry has said that its greatest challenges in doing so are in retaining palatability for the consumer, as well as in replicating the functional properties that salt has as a preservative and as an inhibitor for leavening agents.
The report does give credit to companies such as Campbell’s, which has publicized its sodium reduction progress. It also recognized that there are a number of other companies that have made gradual “silent reductions”.
However, while it did find wide variation in sodium content in some categories, in those where salt is known to have a functional role in the leavening process, the difference was not so striking. For example, white bread ranged in sodium content from 240mg to 295mg per 50g serving, while hamburger buns ranged from 225mg to 305mg per 55 grams.
CSPI said it wants to see food manufacturers making greater voluntary sodium reductions, even while Health Canada and the Sodium Working Group are in the process of developing guidelines for industry.
The report said: “Common two-fold or greater variations in the sodium levels within food categories contradict the familiar contention that high amounts of sodium are indispensible for manufacturing food.”
It recommends that Health Canada should set salt reduction targets similar to those set in place by the UK’s Food Standards Agency.
The full report can be accessed online here.
