Consensus Action on Salt and Health, a campaign group concerned about healthy salt intakes, has revealed that hot chocolate contains more salt than a bag of crisps.
A product survey, which was conducted through the FoodSwitch App, announced that 100g Galaxy Ultimate Marshmallow Hot Chocolate contained more salt than 100g of Walker’s Ready Salted Crisps.
The research that was published during Salt Awareness Week, showed that many brands are failing to reach their salt reduction rates. The daily average of a person’s salt consumption is currently 8.2g. CASH claims that 17,000 lives would be saved each year if the amount was reduced to 6g per day.
The FoodSwitch App, which was designed to help people make healthier food choices, enables users to scan bar codes to identify whether products are high in saturates, sugars and salt.
Katharine Jenner, the Campaign Director for CASH and a registered Nutritionist, is concerned about the public’s knowledge of salt. She says; “Salt is the forgotten killer. The findings from our FoodSwitch shopping basket survey are alarming and we are shocked to see that many food manufacturers and retailers are still failing to meet the salt reduction targets, despite having had years to work towards them.”
Other ‘shock’ findings included Baxters Chef Selections Cullen Skink, which had more than 1.5 times salt (per 100g) than the maximum salt reduction target for soup. Aldi’s Fishmonger Piri Piri Smoked Mackerel Fillets had four times more salt (per 100g) than the maximum salt reduction target for meal deals.
Jessica Ward asked Lincoln residents what they thought contained more salt – Galaxy hot chocolate or Ready Salted crisps.
