News • Children's Food Campaign
Shocking amount of salt in supermarket sausages
Some sausages have more salt in them than a double cheeseburger and fries. This is based on new research from Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) which found that some manufacturers appear to have made no effort to lower the salt content in their products.
Eating a sausage sandwich for breakfast could provide you with two thirds of an adult’s maximum daily recommended intake - more than a McDonald’s cheeseburger with a large portion of fries.
A new survey by Sustain member CASH found that the average salt content for sausages is 1.16g for two sausages; a figure which has remained largely unchanged since 2011.
In three weeks’ time the 2017 voluntary salt targets set by Public Health England are due to be met. As the food industry looks set to fail to meet these, CASH is now calling for mandatory salt targets to be set.
The worst offender is Richmond whose full range of sausages tops all other manufacturers in salt. Some vegetarian sausages are also surprisingly salty. Quorn’s Best of British Sausages have 2.2g salt in two sausages: more salt than half a Pizza Hut Margherita.
Some of the biggest brands - including Richmond, Wall’s and Iceland - are also failing to provide traffic light labelling on front of pack to allow customers to seen in a glance how much salt is in their products. To help customers make an informed choice CASH provides a free app called FoodSwitch which allows us to scan barcodes of products and see the traffic light colours.
Mhairi Brown, Assistant Nutritionist at CASH warns of the dangers of eating too much salt:
“children could be eating at least 2g of salt from a meal that contains just two sausages. Eating too much salt in childhood increases our blood pressure, which then tracks into adulthood and is the main cause of strokes and heart disease. The food industry must do more to reduce salt in family-favourite foods, and help protect our health”
CASH wants Public Health England to set mandatory salt targets for 2020.
Published Sunday 10 December 2017
Children's Food Campaign: Better food and food teaching for children in schools, and protection of children from junk food marketing are the aims of Sustain's high-profile Children's Food Campaign. We also want clear food labelling that can be understood by everyone, including children.
