Survey warns of high salt content in Indian food

Common Indian food products ranging from the ubiquitous papad and pickles to biscuits and sandwich contain very high quantity of salt that are damaging to the health, suggests a new survey.

The survey analysed more than 5,000 food samples from India.

The survey that looked at 5,796 packaged food products, revealed huge differences in the salt content of similar foods, with some containing almost 10 times more salt than others.

“The high level of salt in processed food is a great public health concern, as we are noticing a shift in dietary habits towards more convenience foods.” said Vivekanand Jha, executive director at the George Institute for Global Health, India, the lead institute that conducted the survey.

Some products contain excessively high levels of salt. For instance papads, a commonly consumed meal accompaniment, have a mean sodium content of 1219 mg/100g – with a range of 2-4000 mg/100g.

Even though papads can be made with 2,000 times less sodium (two mg of sodium/100g,) many companies produce papads with the highest sodium content. Pickle is another example of a common food with very high salt content.

The main problem caused by salt is high blood pressure which greatly increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and kidney failure. “These are all now leading causes of death and disability in India,” Jha said.

The researchers looked at nine main food categories which contribute salt to Indian diet and found that many food groups contain excessively high levels of salt. Cooking sauces, table sauces and spreads contained on average five and a half grams of salt per 100 g, with some containing 10 times that amount and others with almost no salt at all. “This is particularly alarming as sauces and spread are often added to meals, and with such high salt contents, it will add substantially more salt to the diet” said Jha.

The World Health Organisation recommends all member states reduce mean population level salt intake by 30% by 2025.