US Second To China In Processed Meat, Fish Products' Sodium Content: Study

The U.S. ranked second among five countries in terms of processed meat and fish products' salt content, a study has found.

Salt in diet typically comes from processed food, the World Health Organization (WHO) noted. This could be because the food itself is high in salt content, or because the foods are consumed often and in large amounts.

High dietary salt intake is said to be a "major cause" of high blood pressure and has been linked to cardiovascular and kidney disease as well as death, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) noted in a news release. However, the average global salt intake in 2010 was twice WHO's maximum recommendation of 2,000mg/day.

"A previous study conducted in 2013 in China reported that the average sodium content of processed meat and fish products was 1029 mg/100 g and 1424 mg/100 g, respectively, above half of the recommended daily sodium intake," the researchers of a study, published in the journal BMJ Open, wrote.

As such, the WHO has aimed to reduce global salt intake by 30% by 2025. In response, many countries have also set their own targets to reduce sodium in processed foods.

For their study, the researchers aimed to compare the sodium content of processed meat and fish products in five countries — the U.S., U.K., China, South Africa and Australia.

In total, they looked at the sodium content of 26,500 prepackaged products, of which 19,601 were meat and 6,899 were fish. These were purchased from supermarkets in five countries from 2012 to 2018. Of the products, 1,898 were from China, 5,673 were from Australia, 17,089 were from the U.S., 885 were from the U.K and 946 were from South Africa. Products ranged from sausages, hot dogs, roast chicken and kebabs to canned or chilled processed fish.

High Salt Levels

The researchers found that overall, the processed meat and fish products from China had the highest sodium levels with a median of 1,000 mg/100g. It was followed by the U.S., South Africa, Australia and the U.K.

"The sodium content of meat and fish products in all the selected countries was very high with a 100 g serving size of meat and fish products contributing to one half/third of WHO recommended maximum daily sodium intake," the researchers wrote.

However, there were variations in the salt content between subcategories and countries, the BMJ noted. For instance, even though the lowest levels overall were found in the U.K., the salt content of meat products in Australia was lower than in the U.K.

Furthermore, even if the salt content of products like meat spreads, roast chicken and chilled fish in China were several times higher than in the other countries', its salami, bacon, frozen meat, cured meats, frozen fish and dried meat actually had the lowest salt content in the group, the BMJ noted.

The 'Traffic Light' System

Using the "traffic light" system in the U.K., wherein the salt level is considered low (green) at 120 mg/100m, medium (amber) at 120 and 599 mg/100g and high (red) at 600 mg/100g, the researchers found that "a large proportion" of the processed meats and fish in all the countries were under red and amber categories, with much of the green light products being from the U.K.

In fact, only 10% of the products in the U.K. and U.S. were under the green light category, the BMJ noted. Meanwhile, in China and South Africa, foods under the green light group were less than 5%.

"It is not easy to simply replace or reformulate the high sodium products that already exists for years," the researchers wrote. "However, the large difference in sodium content of similar products in different countries, and the difference in sodium content among different brands within the same countries, indicate that there is still a lot of room for salt reduction."

According to the researchers, the great differences in the salt content of the processed products show "great potential" for companies to reformulate their sodium content and for consumers to opt for foods with less salt.