From Our 2012 Archives
Bread and Other Common Foods Top List of Sodium Culprits
CDC Study: About 90% of Us Get Too Much Sodium
By Denise Mann
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD
Feb. 7, 2012 -- About 90% of us get too much sodium every day, and most of it comes from common restaurant or grocery store items, the CDC reports. The No. 1 culprit? Bread and rolls.
Ten foods are responsible for 44% of all of the sodium we get. These include:
The average person gets about 3,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium per day, not counting salt added at the table. The U.S. dietary guidelines call for less than 2,300 mg of salt per day. The amount is even lower -- 1,500 mg per day -- for people aged 51 and older, African-Americans, and anyone with high blood pressure, diabetes, or kidney disease.
Slashing the sodium intake of these 10 foods by 25% would lower the amount of sodium in our diets by 10% and could help prevent up to 28,000 deaths a year, says CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, in a news release.
Some manufacturers are taking the lead, he says. For example, "Kraft Foods has committed to an average 10% reduction of sodium in their products over a two year period, and dozens of companies have joined a national initiative to reduce sodium," he says. "The leading supplier of cheese for pizza, Leprino Foods, is actively working on providing customers and consumers with healthier options."
The findings appear online in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
SOURCES: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published online Feb. 7, 2012.News release, CDC.