- Sausages
- Bacon
- Ham
Salt
Most of us are eating more salt than we realise
Watch the salt
It's not just the salt added to our cooking or at the table that we need to watch out for. In fact, three-quarters of the salt we're eating is already in the foods we buy. These can contain a lot of salt — even if they don't taste salty!
Salty foods to watch out for
- Pastries
- Pizza
- Cheese
- Crisps
- Salted nuts
- Gravy
- Brown sauce
- Soy sauce
- Mustard and ketchup
* Data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, 2016
What you need to know!
How salt affects our kids
Too much salt can put our kids at risk of high blood pressure and heart disease later on in life.
We're all eating too much
We should be having less than 6g of salt a day – that's less than a teaspoon!
Foods can be saltier than they taste
More than half of our kids are eating too much salt every day. Cakes and biscuits can have a lot of salt in them, even if they don't taste salty.
How much is too much?
The maximum daily amounts of salt for you and your family are:
4-6 years
7 to 10 years
11+ years
* 1 sachet = 0.5g salt (12 sachets = 6g of salt, or 1 teaspoon)
Swaps and tips
The foods we buy can contain more salt than we realise. Cut back by making smarter choices while shopping – and by using healthier recipes.
Snack swap
From
Salted peanuts
To
Unsalted mixed nuts
Cooking swap
From
Salt and soy sauce
To
Herbs and spices
Easy ways to watch the salt
Shop smart
At the supermarket, look out for lower-salt versions of your favourite baked beans, soups, soy sauce and table sauces.
Get the free Food Scanner app
Scan barcodes using the app to find out what's inside popular food and drink.
If you don't have the app...
Some food labels have traffic light coloured labels to show the salt content. Choose more greens and ambers, and fewer reds.
Red means this food is high in salt. Think about how often you choose it and how much of it you eat.
Amber means this food has a medium amount of salt. This makes it an OK choice, although going for green is even better.
Green means it's low in salt, which makes it a healthier choice.