Report of study on sodium content in local foods

The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) today (September 28) announced the findings of a study on the sodium content in local food items. The study aimed to analyse the levels of sodium in local food items and raise the awareness of the public and food traders on related issues.

A spokesman for the CFS said, "Sodium is essential for the normal functioning of the human body. However, excessive sodium intake can be detrimental to health, such as increasing the risk of developing hypertension, which in turn increases the risk of coronary heart diseases and stroke. Salt and salt-preserved food items may also increase the risk of stomach cancer. One gram of salt contains 393 milligrams of sodium. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a maximum daily sodium intake of 2,000mg, i.e. 5g of salt."

The major dietary source of sodium is salt, condiments and sauces. Sodium is also naturally present in food and drinking water. According to a report released earlier by a local university, Hong Kong people consume 10g of salt per day, which far exceeds the WHO's recommendation.

The CFS collected 632 non-prepackaged food items and 314 prepackaged food items from local retail outlets and food premises for laboratory analysis and nutrition label data analysis on their sodium levels respectively. The samples, collected between January and April this year, covered nine food categories, namely "condiments and sauces", "processed meat products", "processed vegetable products", "snacks", "bakery products", "soup (ready-to-eat or condensed)", "Western fast food", "Asian foods and dim sum" and "other foods". Food normally with lower sodium levels (such as oils/fats, dairy products and fresh fruits/vegetables) was not included in the study.

The study findings showed that the sodium levels of the non-prepackaged food samples ranged from "not detected" to 17,000mg per 100g of the food item. Amongst all categories, "processed vegetable products" (e.g. preserved leaf mustard, preserved mustard and preserved cabbage, etc) had the highest average sodium content of 5,784mg per 100g of the food item.

As for prepackaged food samples (excluding prepackaged salt), the results showed that their sodium levels ranged from 12mg to 16,807mg per 100g of the food item. Amongst all categories, "condiments and sauces" (e.g. soy sauce, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and stock powder/cubes, salad dressing and ketchup, etc) had the highest average sodium content of 3,585mg per 100g of the food item.

The CFS spokesman said that, as observed from the study findings, the sodium content of many food items, especially burgers, Western preserved meat, sauces and condiments, etc, was rather high. Compared with overseas sodium reduction targets for corresponding or similar food, there should be significant room for reduction of the sodium content of these food items. In addition, the study also revealed that within the same food item, the sodium level might vary by a wide margin. This indicated that reformulation with less salt was feasible for many food items. Consumers and food traders could also rinse or soak salted vegetables in water so as to reduce their sodium content.

To avoid excessive intake of sodium, which in turn affects one's health, the spokesman advised that consumers could make use of the nutrition labels to choose food items with lower sodium content. The public might also change dietary habits and reduce the amount of salt or sodium-containing seasonings added to food by, for example, removing salt shakers or sodium-containing condiments from the dining table, so as to allow the taste buds to adapt gradually to the light flavours of food. Reduced consumption of preserved salted vegetables or salty appetisers could also lower sodium intake.

As for food traders, the spokesman said, according to the study results, the sodium levels found in the same food item could be very different and hence reformulation for many food products should be feasible. Food traders could consider providing consumers with more low-sodium and healthier food products. For example, they could provide more food items with lower sodium content for customers to choose from, and serve food with no added salt or seasonings, or with seasonings provided separately at the point of sale.

He encouraged the trade to develop affordable quality food products with low sodium content, taking into consideration the multi-function of salt in food processing. When reformulating food recipes to lower sodium content versions, the trade could use the local data collected in the study by the CFS and the overseas sodium reduction targets as a guide for benchmarking.

"In consultation with the trade, the CFS has developed a set of 'Trade Guidelines on Reducing Sodium in Foods' to help traders produce and promote healthy and safe food products with lower sodium or salt content. The guidelines will be distributed to the trade and uploaded to the CFS website for reference. On the other hand, the trade may establish a database to monitor the sodium content of company products and use portable salt meters to help gauge the amount of salt in non-prepackaged food products such as soups, sauces and condiments."

Details of the study on sodium content in local foods are available on the CFS website, www.cfs.gov.hk.

Ends/Friday, September 28, 2012
Issued at HKT 15:01