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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Breads, not chips, top list of dietary salt sources

By: Mike Stobbe

Posted: 02/8/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

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ATLANTA -- Bread and rolls are the No. 1 source of salt in the North American diet, accounting for more than twice as much sodium as snacks like potato chips and pretzels.

That surprising finding comes in a government report released Tuesday that includes a list of the top 10 sources of sodium. Salty snacks actually came in at the bottom of the list compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Potato chips, pretzels, and popcorn -- which we think of as the saltiest foods in our diet -- are only No. 10," said CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden.

Breads and rolls aren't really saltier than many of the other foods, but people tend to eat a lot of them, said Mary Cogswell, a CDC senior scientists who co-authored the report.

Salt is the main source of sodium for most people, and sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure, a major cause of heart disease and stroke. Health officials say most Americans get too much salt, mostly from processed and restaurant foods -- not added from the salt shaker.

"It's possible to eat a whole bunch of sodium without it seeming salty," noted John Hayes, an assistant professor of food science at Penn State, who was not involved in the report.

According to the CDC, breads and rolls account for about seven per cent of the salt that the average North American eats in a day. Next on the list: cold cuts and cured meats; pizza; fresh and processed poultry; soups; fast-food hamburgers and sandwiches and cheese.

Rounding out the list -- and accounting for about three per cent each -- are spaghetti and other pasta dishes; meat loaf and other meat dishes and snacks like potato chips and pretzels.

Health officials say no one should eat more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day, equal to about five millilitres (one teaspoon) of salt. Certain people, such as those with high blood pressure, should eat even less. But average sodium consumption in the U.S. is around 3,300 milligrams, the CDC study found. Only one in 10 Americans meet the teaspoon guideline.

In Canada, researchers have found that the average Canadian consumes about 3,400 milligrams of sodium a day, a figure the federal government would like to see lowered to 2,300 milligrams per day by 2016.

Many researchers and several groups, including the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Stroke Network, are calling for a national policy to reduce sodium content in foods.

-- The Associated Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 8, 2012 C1

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