It has long been accepted that high salt consumption and heart disease are correlated. Many individuals are careful to maintain their sodium levels at relatively low levels: avoiding the salt shaker at home … but are they keeping track of salt in packaged foods?
While health consciousness is certainly on the rise in Canada, you may be surprised to learn that Canada is heavy handed when it comes to sodium. The following is an excerpt from an article written in www.ctv.ca on July 23, 2009:
New research published today by World Action on Salt and Health (WASH) shows that a large number of food items sold in Canada contain significantly more sodium than the very same products sold in other countries – in some cases more than twice the daily maximum limit for an adult in a single meal.
WASH surveyed over 260 food products available around the world from fast food chains such as KFC, McDonalds, Subway, and from packaged food manufacturers such as Kellogg’s and Nestle. Not one product surveyed had the same salt content around the world. And some displayed huge differences in sodium from one country to another.
Kellogg’s All Bran, for instance, contains 0.65g of salt per 100g in the United States, and about 1.13g of salt per 100g in the United Kingdom. But in Canada, it contains 2.15g of salt per 100g in Canada. That’s about 620 milligrams per bowl — or more than one-third of the daily recommended intake for people aged nine to 50.
A serving of Burger King onion rings has 1,500 milligrams of sodium per serving — more than 100 per cent of the daily recommended intake. A serving of BK onion rings in the UK has just 500 mg — even though the serving size in the UK is about 30 per cent larger. A serving of KFC Popcorn Chicken has 2,271 mg of sodium in Canada; in Malaysia, a similar-sized serving has 1,690 mg.
WASH notes that the UK generally has salt levels in the bottom half of the table for most products, reflecting the fact that salt has been a focus for public health in this country for several years.
Canada, meanwhile, has some of the highest levels of sodium in our packaged and chain restaurant foods, which might explain why the country has such high rates of high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart attack, heart failure, stroke, and kidney disease.
Health Canada recommends people aged nine or older consume no more than 2,300 mg a day. And really, Blood Pressure Canada, a consortium that includes the Canadian Stroke Network and the Heart and Stroke Foundation, says Canadians should aim for a daily total of no more than 1,500 mg of sodium.
If most of us followed this simple rule, they say, the rate of stroke and heart disease could drop by 30 per cent in Canada. High blood pressure and has also been linked to obesity, stomach cancer, worsening of asthma, and kidney stones. [ ]
Graham MacGregor, Chairman of WASH and a professor of cardiovascular medicine [ ]: “It is very hypocritical for manufacturers to make healthy claims about their products whilst unnecessarily adding to worldwide health inequalities. A gradual reduction in salt can easily be done across all products in all countries. We urge all manufacturers to make these reductions not just in a few fortunate countries, but across the world.”
Source: “Food brands sold in Canada much saltier: study”; Jul. 23 2009; CTV.ca