Pre-packaged sandwiches may contain higher amounts of salt than several bags of crisps, or even the same amount of salt that can be found in a Big Mac, according to new research.
The study, carried out by health group Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) on behalf of the BBC, revealed that 40 per cent of package sandwiches bought at retail outlets contain more than a third of the day’s recommended salt intake.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) recommends adults should consume no more than 6g of salt per day.
The health group included 140 sandwiches from nine different retailers in its survey, along with a fast food chain, a bakery and five coffee shops .
Asda’s Extra Special Yorkshire Ham and Hawes Wensleydale sandwich registered the highest amount of salt at 3.9g per serving – equivalent to eight packs of ready salted crisps.
This was followed by Pret a Manger’s All Day Breakfast sandwich at 3.54g and Tesco’s Finest All Day Breakfast with 3.5g.
In contrast the lowest recorded sandwiches were the Co-op’s Healthy Living Tuna and Cucumber and Tesco Healthy Living Chicken Salad which had just 0.6g of salt.
Jim Winship, director of the British Sandwich Association, told the BBC: “Sandwiches involve the assembly of ingredients.”
“The fact is that the salt is already in the ingredients, for example bacon or ham – so if consumers choose a sandwich containing these they are bound to have a higher salt content.”
However, Jo Butten, a nutritionist for CASH, pointed out that a sandwich providing a third of the daily intake of salt was not necessarily a problem as it could be included as one of the three main meals of the day.
But she added that problems could arise if snacks such as crisps and biscuits, which could send their salt intake over the suggested six-gram limit, are added into people’s daily diets .
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