scholarly journals Monitoring Sodium Content in Processed Foods in Argentina 2017–2018: Compliance with National Legislation and Regional Targets

Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1474
Author(s):  
Lorena Allemandi ◽  
Maria Victoria Tiscornia ◽  
Leila Guarnieri ◽  
Luciana Castronuovo ◽  
Enrique Martins

Sodium intake in Argentina has been estimated to be at least double the dose of 2000 mg/day recommended by WHO, mostly coming from processed foods. Argentina is one of the few countries in the world that have regulated sodium content in certain food products. This study presents an assessment of sodium content in a selection of food groups and categories as reported in the nutrient information panels. We surveyed 3674 food products, and the sodium content of 864 and 1375 of them was compared to the maximum levels according to the Argentinean law and the regional targets, respectively. All food categories presented high variability of sodium content. Over 90% of the products included in the national sodium reduction law were found to be compliant. Food groups with high median sodium, such as condiments, sauces and spreads, and fish and fish products, are not included in the national law. In turn, comparisons with the lower regional targets indicated that almost 50% of the products analyzed had sodium contents above the recommended values. This evidence suggests that enhancing sodium reduction in processed foods may be a necessity for public health objectives and it is also technically feasible in Argentina.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Sofia Amarra ◽  
Mario Capanzana ◽  
Glen Gironella ◽  
Francisco de los Reyes

Abstract Background In response to the global target for reduction in salt intake, several countries have implemented population sodium reduction strategies. These strategies include identification of major sources of sodium in the diet and reformulation of a set number of products available on the market. This study aimed to identify processed foods that can be targeted for reformulation and whose sodium content can be monitored over time in order to reduce sodium intake in the Philippines. The objectives were to: 1) Estimate per capita sodium intake from minimally processed and processed food groups by income quintile and urban/rural location; 2) Identify foods that contribute to the variance in per capita sodium intake that can be used as indicators for monitoring the sodium content of Philippine processed foods. One-day household food weighing data covering 4880 households from the 2008 National Nutrition Survey was used. Per capita sodium consumption from processed and minimally processed food categories and percentiles of sodium intake from these categories by income quintile and urban/rural location were obtained. The percentage contribution of different food categories to mean per capita sodium intake was calculated. Specific foods that contributed to the variance in sodium intake among Filipinos were identified. Results Foods which significantly accounted for 99.4% of the variance in sodium intake were 13 types of processed foods and 2 types of minimally processed foods. The category Processed Soup, Sauces, and Flavor Enhancers contributed the greatest proportion to per capita sodium intake. Specific processed foods that contributed to the variance in per capita sodium intake were instant noodles, traditional fermented condiments and sauces, dried and processed meat, fish, and poultry products, salted eggs, white bread and pan de sal (a traditional Filipino bread), wheat and egg noodles, crispy cereal chips and extruded snacks, butter and margarine, cheese, and chocolate-based beverages. Conclusion Identifying processed foods that significantly contribute to sodium intake, followed by reformulating and monitoring the sodium content of these foods over time should be considered as one strategy to reduce sodium intake in the Philippines.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Sofia Amarra ◽  
Mario Capanzana ◽  
Glen Gironella ◽  
Francisco de los Reyes

Abstract Background In response to the global target for reduction in salt intake, several countries have implemented population sodium reduction strategies. These strategies include identification of major sources of sodium in the diet and reformulation of a set number of products available on the market. This study aimed to identify processed foods that can be targeted for reformulation and whose sodium content can be monitored over time in order to reduce sodium intake in the Philippines. The objectives were to: 1) Estimate per capita sodium intake from minimally processed and processed food groups by income quintile and urban/rural location; 2) Identify foods that contribute to the variance in per capita sodium intake that can be used as indicators for monitoring the sodium content of Philippine processed foods. One-day household food weighing data covering 4880 households from the 2008 National Nutrition Survey was used. Per capita sodium consumption from processed and minimally processed food categories and percentiles of sodium intake from these categories by income quintile and urban/rural location were obtained. The percentage contribution of different food categories to mean per capita sodium intake was calculated. Specific foods that contributed to the variance in sodium intake among Filipinos were identified. Results Foods which significantly accounted for 99.4% of the variance in sodium intake were 13 types of processed foods and 2 types of minimally processed foods. The category Processed Soup, Sauces, and Flavor Enhancers contributed the greatest proportion to per capita sodium intake. Specific processed foods that contributed to the variance in per capita sodium intake were instant noodles, traditional fermented condiments and sauces, dried and processed meat, fish, and poultry products, salted eggs, white bread and pan de sal (a traditional Filipino bread), wheat and egg noodles, crispy cereal chips and extruded snacks, butter and margarine, cheese, and chocolate-based beverages. Conclusion Identifying processed foods that significantly contribute to sodium intake, followed by reformulating and monitoring the sodium content of these foods over time should be considered as one strategy to reduce sodium intake in the Philippines.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. e046412
Author(s):  
Yuzhu Song ◽  
Yuan Li ◽  
Chunlei Guo ◽  
Yishan Wang ◽  
Liping Huang ◽  
...  

IntroductionReducing sodium intake has been identified as a highly cost-effective strategy to prevent and control high blood pressure and reduce cardiovascular mortality. This study aims to compare the sodium content in processed meat and fish products among five countries, which will contribute to the evidence-base for feasible strategies of sodium reduction in such products.MethodsSodium content on product labels of 26 500 prepackaged products, 19 601 meat and 6899 fish, was collected in supermarkets from five countries using the FoodSwitch mobile application from 2012 to 2018. To be specific, it was 1898 products in China, 885 in the UK, 5673 in Australia, 946 in South Africa and 17 098 in the USA. Cross-sectional comparisons of sodium levels and proportions meeting 2017 UK sodium reduction targets were conducted using Kruskal-Wallis H and the χ2 test, respectively across the five countries.ResultsThe results showed that processed meat and fish products combined in China had the highest sodium level (median 1050 mg/100 g, IQR: 774–1473), followed by the USA, South Africa, Australia, with the lowest levels found in UK (432 mg/100 g, IQR: 236–786) (p<0.001). Similar variations, that is, a twofold to threefold difference of sodium content between the highest and the lowest countries were found among processed meat and fish products separately. Large sodium content variations were also found in certain specific food subcategories across the five countries, as well as across different food subcategories within each country.ConclusionProcessed meat and fish products differ greatly in sodium content across different countries and across different food subcategories. This indicates great potential for food producers to reformulate the products in sodium content, as well as for consumers to select less salted food.


2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (7) ◽  
pp. 651-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Jovicic-Bata ◽  
Maja Grujicic ◽  
Slavica Radjen ◽  
Budimka Novakovic

Background/Aim. Data on sodium intake and sources of sodium in the diet in Serbia are limited. The aim of this study was to estimate the sodium intake and identify the sources of sodium in the diet of undergraduate students attending the University of Novi Sad. Methods. Students completed a questionnaire to gather data on their gender, age and university faculty attended, and then a 24 h dietary recall. The sodium intake of the students was calculated using the dietary recall data and data on the sodium content of foods. The contribution of different food groups as well as of specific foodstuffs to the total sodium intake was calculated. Results. The mean estimated sodium intake of the students was 3,938.5 ? 1,708.1 mg/day. The sodium intake of 89.1% of the surveyed students exceeded the guideline for sodium intake, the majority of the sodium coming from processed foods (78.9% of the total sodium intake). The food groups that contributed the most to the total sodium intake of the students were meat and meat products (21.7%) and cereals and cereal-based products (18.6%). Bread and other bakery products were responsible for 13.1% of the total sodium intake. Conclusion. High sodium intake in students of the University of Novi Sad puts them at high risk of developing high blood pressure. The food industry should work towards reformulating products with high sodium content, especially bread and other bakery products. Efforts should be taken to reduce sodium intake among undergraduate students in Novi Sad.


2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (4) ◽  
pp. 874-881 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela da Costa de Oliveira ◽  
Amanda Cristina Cristina Andrade ◽  
Jéssica Guimarães ◽  
Jéssica Ferreira Rodrigues ◽  
Mariana Mirelle Pereira Natividade ◽  
...  

Purpose Excessive sodium intake is associated with several diseases. Accordingly, several measures, including microparticulate salt, have been adopted to reduce the salt contents of food products. However, no studies have reported the effectiveness of microparticulate salt in semisolid and liquid products. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the application of microparticulate salt to reduce sodium contents in semisolid products. Design/methodology/approach The optimal salt content to be added in butter was defined by the just-about-right-scale test. Butter samples were prepared using microparticulate salt to achieve 25, 50 and 75 per cent reductions in conventional salt concentrations. Multiple comparison tests were performed to evaluate sample taste. Findings The ideal concentration of conventional salt to be added to butter was 2.16 per cent. Discriminative tests showed that samples with 25 and 75 per cent salt reduction showed significant differences (p ⩽ 0.05) compared with butter prepared at the ideal salt content, whereas the sample with 50 per cent salt reduction had no significant difference (p > 0.05). Thus, microparticulate salt showed higher salting power than conventional salt. These results indicated the effectiveness of microparticulate salt in the preparation of semisolid products with sodium reduction. Research limitations/implications More detailed studies about the reduced-sodium butter shelf life are necessary to verify the microparticulate salt application in the product preparation. Moreover, microparticulate salt application in semisolid and liquid products elaboration must be more investigated to better elucidate its practicability of reducing sodium content in these kinds of products. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the proposed propositions further. Practical implications Microparticulate salt has been successfully applied to reduce sodium in solid products, being added to the finished product surface. However, there are no studies that report its effectiveness in semisolid and liquid products, such as the butter, in which the salt is added during the product preparation. Thus, this research provides new scientific information to the food industry and research fields, to expand the knowledge of reduced-sodium products development using microparticulate salt with sensory quality. Originality/value No studies have evaluated the application of microparticulate salt for semisolid product preparation. Therefore, the findings will support the development of healthy products.


Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2226
Author(s):  
Jaritza Vega-Solano ◽  
Adriana Blanco-Metzler ◽  
Karla Francela Benavides-Aguilar ◽  
JoAnne Arcand

High blood pressure is a leading cause of death in Costa Rica, with an estimated mortality rate of 30%. The average household sodium intake is two times higher than the World Health Organization recommendation. The consumption of processed foods is an important and growing contributor to sodium intake. The objective of this study was to describe the sodium content of packaged foods (mg/100 g) sold in Costa Rica in 2015 (n = 1158) and 2018 (n = 1016) and to assess their compliance with the national sodium reduction targets. All 6 categories with national targets were analyzed: condiments, cookies and biscuits, bread products, processed meats, bakery products, and sauces. A significant reduction in mean sodium content was found in only 3 of the 19 subcategories (cakes, tomato-based sauces, and tomato paste). No subcategories had statistically significant increases in mean sodium levels, but seasonings for sides/mains, ham, and sausage categories were at least 15% higher in sodium. Compliance with the national sodium targets among all foods increased from 80% in 2015 to 87% in 2018. The results demonstrate that it is feasible to reduce the sodium content in packaged foods in Costa Rica, but more work is needed to continually support a gradual reduction of sodium in packaged foods, including more stringent sodium targets.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Celso De Souza Cardoso ◽  
Cristiane Vanessa Quandt-Berlanda ◽  
Eder Adriano Cavali Stolberg ◽  
Naieli Mücke ◽  
Daneysa Lahis Kalschne ◽  
...  

The high sodium intake has been related to the increase of non- transmissible chronic diseases, especially hypertension. As in Brazil sodium consumption is still above the recommended, it is necessary to develop food products with low addition. The aim of this study was produce Tuscan sausage with lemon flavor with reduced content of sodium, evaluate the microbiological and physico-chemical quality and sensory acceptance. Three formulations were developed, one control (T1), one with 20% (T2) and one with 30% (T3) of sodium reduction, based on the partial substitution of sodium chloride by PuraQ Arome NA4. Sodium content in formulation T1 was 976 mg /100g, while the formulation T2 was 835 mg/100g and T3 761 mg/100g. The samples produced met the microbiological criteria for research of Salmonella, count of coagulase-positive Staphylococcus, sulfite-reducing Clostridium and Coliforms at 45 °C. The parameters of humidity, lipid, calcium and residual nitrite were in accordance with the legislation for all formulations, but the protein content was attended only by T3 formulation. Hedonic scale test showed no difference between the samples and all were accepted for the sensory attributes color, aroma, texture, flavor and overall acceptance. Acceptability levels were greater than 78.9%, indicating that consumers appreciate the Toscana sausage with lemon flavor, and it is possible to reduce sodium maintaining the sensory quality of the product.


2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 335-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pirjo Pietinen ◽  
Liisa M Valsta ◽  
Tero Hirvonen ◽  
Harri Sinkko

AbstractObjectiveTo estimate the impact of choosing food products labelled either as low or high in salt on salt intake in the Finnish adult population.Setting and subjectsThe National FINDIET 2002 survey with 48-hour recalls from 2007 subjects aged 25–64 years. Sodium intake was calculated based on the Fineli® food composition database including the sodium content of natural and processed foods as well as the salt content of recipes. The distribution of salt intake was calculated in different ways: the present situation; assuming that all breads, cheeses, processed meat and fish, breakfast cereals and fat spreads consumed would be either ‘lightly salted’ or ‘heavily salted’ based on the current labelling practice; and, in addition, assuming that all foods would be prepared with 50% less or more salt.ResultsExcluding underreporters, the mean salt intake would be reduced by 1.8 g in men and by 1.0 g in women if the entire population were to choose lightly salted products and further by 2.5 and 1.8 g, respectively, if also salt used in cooking were halved. Choosing heavily salted products would increase salt intake by 2.1 g in men and by 1.4 g in women. In the worst scenarios, salt intake would be further increased by 2.3 g in men and by 1.6 g in women.ConclusionsThese calculations show that the potential impact of labelling and giving consumers the possibility to choose products with less salt is of public health importance. In addition, strategies to reduce the salt content of all food groups are needed.


Nutrients ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2008
Author(s):  
Claudia Nieto ◽  
Lizbeth Tolentino-Mayo ◽  
Catalina Medina ◽  
Eric Monterrubio-Flores ◽  
Edgar Denova-Gutiérrez ◽  
...  

Background: Sodium intake is related to several adverse health outcomes, such as hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Processed foods are major contributors to the population’s sodium intake. The aim of the present study was to determine sodium levels in Mexican packaged foods, as well as to evaluate the proportion of foods that comply with sodium benchmark targets set by the United Kingdom Food Standards Agency (UK FSA) and those set by the Mexican Commission for the Protection of Health Risks (COFEPRIS). We also evaluated the proportion of foods that exceeded the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) targets. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that comprised data collected from the package of 2248 processed foods from selected supermarkets in Mexico. Results: Many processed food categories contained an excessive amount of sodium. Processed meats, ham, bacon and sausages, had the highest concentrations. The proportion of foods classified as compliant in our sample was lower for international targets (FSA UK and PAHO) compared to the Mexican COFEPRIS criteria. Conclusions: These data provided a critical baseline assessment for monitoring sodium levels in Mexican processed foods.


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (16) ◽  
pp. 2839-2846 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Johnson ◽  
Sudhir Raj Thout ◽  
Sailesh Mohan ◽  
Elizabeth Dunford ◽  
Clare Farrand ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectiveTo estimate the proportion of products meeting Indian government labelling regulations and to examine the Na levels in packaged foods sold in India.DesignNutritional composition data were collected from the labels of all packaged food products sold at Indian supermarkets in between 2012 and 2014. Proportions of products compliant with the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulations and labelled with Na content, and mean Na levels were calculated. Comparisons were made against 2010 data from Hyderabad and against the UK Department of Health (DoH) 2017 Na targets.SettingEleven large chain retail stores in Delhi and Hyderabad, India.SubjectsPackaged food products (n 5686) categorised into fourteen food groups, thirty-three food categories and ninety sub-categories.ResultsMore packaged food products (43 v. 34 %; P<0·001) were compliant with FSSAI regulations but less (32 v. 38 %; P<0·001) reported Na values compared with 2010. Food groups with the highest Na content were sauces and spreads (2217 mg/100 g) and convenience foods (1344 mg/100 g). Mean Na content in 2014 was higher in four food groups compared with 2010 and lower in none (P<0·05). Only 27 % of foods in sub-categories for which there are UK DoH benchmarks had Na levels below the targets.ConclusionsCompliance with nutrient labelling in India is improving but remains low. Many packaged food products have high levels of Na and there is no evidence that Indian packaged foods are becoming less salty.


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