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Warning over danger of salt in bread
Independent, The (London), Mar 1, 2007 by Martin Hickman
Bread sold in some shops is so salty it kills 7,000 people a year, campaigners claim.
More than a third of loaves checked by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash) had more salt than the recommended maximum set by the Government's food watchdog. Some were almost 40 per cent over the limit. Excessive consumption of salt causes heart disease and bread is the single biggest source in the UK, contributing about a quarter of the intake.
The British eat about 11 grams of salt a day. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) recommends a maximum of 6 grams a day.
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Cash said that some supermarkets, such as Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer had reduced salt in bread but its study of 138 loaves found that 50 loaves - 36 per cent - exceeded the FSA recommendation of 1.1g per 100g. Asda's medium white big loaf and Morrison's The Best farmhouse malted - had 1.5g per 100g.
Overall, Morrisons and Allinson had the highest average salt content. But Cash said the country's biggest baker, Warburtons, was the "worst" offender because of its size and range.
The company has annual sales of [pound]402m and three million people eat its bread daily. Fifteen of Warburton's 18 lines exceeded the FSA limit by as much as 19 per cent. Hovis, the UK's second biggest baker, Asda and Kings-mill averaged just above the recommended safety limit. The lowest-salt bread was Burgen's Wholegrain and Cranberry with 0.55g per 100g.
Cash urged consumers to boycott the saltiest bread. Jo Butten, a nutritionist for Cash, said: "The differences in salt content between these breads may appear unimportant but we eat so much bread, as a nation, that these variations can add up to major differences."
Professor Graham Mac-Gregor, chairman of Cash, said: "Bread is the largest source of salt in the UK diet so if the salt content of all bread was cut to the lowest, we could cut the average daily intake by about 1g.
"Research has shown a population cut of 1g of salt per day would equate to 7,000 lives saved each year from strokes and heart attacks due to the drop in blood pressure that would occur."
The worst offenders
The Food Standards Agency recommends only 1.1g of salt per 100g serving
GRANARY AND SEEDED
Asda Extra Special - Seeded Farmhouse Loaf (thick sliced)
1.3g Salt content per 100g
TWO IN ONE
Hovis Invisible Crust, Best of Both - medium sliced
1.12g Salt content per 100g
MALTED & BROWN
The Best - Farmhouse Malted Bread
1.5g Salt content per 100g
WHITE
Asda Medium White Big Loaf
1.5g Salt content per 100g
ORGANIC
Morrisons Farmhouse Gold - sliced white organic bread
1.3g Salt content per 100g
WHOLEMEAL
Morrisons Superlife Wholemeal Sliced Bread - medium sliced
1.3g Salt content per 100g
Copyright 2007 Independent Newspapers UK Limited
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
