Time and again and repeatedly, nutritionists and health experts have been warning against the dangers of high intake of salt in the daily diet. But food manufacturers refuse to pay heed to these warnings. They continue to add large amounts of salts in their foods. Campaigners in the UK are upset with this disregard of the manufacturers for the health of the public. Their new UK research has shown that more than 50% of the pizzas in the UK have salt to the tune of the whole day’s limit for it.
Salt and foods
The natural foods that are available contain some amount of sodium in them. These are in varying amounts. And the packaged and processed foods that are on sale commercially in the supermarkets and grocery shops have a lot of salt in them. These are added salts and in most of the products, the salt content is extremely high. These levels are dangerous for human consumption.
Action on Salt definition of high salt content in foods (Source: Action on Salt)High intake of salt has a detrimental effect on the body. They can lead to high blood pressure, load on the heart, atherosclerosis, and heart attacks and strokes. These might cause early deaths. There could be electrolyte imbalances and seizures and cellular dehydration too in some people.
Health organizations worldwide have been warning against the perils of this high salt intake. They have been requesting food manufacturers to cut down on the salt in these foods. But their pleads are falling on deaf ears.
The new UK research
And now a new UK research has revealed that more than half of the pizzas for sale in the UK contain dangerous levels of sodium in it. The amount in some pizzas is so high that one pizza eaten can fulfil the daily salt requirements of the body.
The researchers conducted an analysis of around 1387 different pizzas that they had purchased from supermarkets, fast food chains, restaurants and shops. And to their surprise, they found that the salts in many of these were high. One of the pizzas that the Domino’s fast food outlet sold had salt that was three times the salt amount required by an adult daily.
Pizzas (Source: Dominos)The Domino’s sizzler standard mozzarella stuffed crust medium pizza was the saltiest of the samples tested. It had 21.4 grams of salt in it. This amount was more than the amount of salt present in seawater. The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) recommends that the daily intake of salt in the daily diet should not be more than 6 grams.
The average consumption of salt daily in the UK is around 8.4 grams. This is 40% higher than the required amount. Cardiovascular physician, Graham MacGregor from Queen Mary University of London opines that reducing one gram of salt intake per day can save 4k lives per year.
Goodfella’s, Morrisons and the Co-op retailers sell pizzas with the least salt. And Bella Italia, Pizza Express and Fireaway pizzas are also low-salt ones. But pizzas of retailers Zizzi, Franco Manca and Crosta & Mollica and takeaway operators Domino’s, Papa John’s and Caprinos are the worst.
What do experts state?
Health experts have put this situation about high salt in pizzas and other foods in the UK as worrying. It leads to hypertension which is the silent killer of most people due to heart attacks and strokes.
Pizzas have high salt in them (Source: Papa Johns)The organizer that carried out the nutritional survey, Action on Salt is also highly concerned about this fact finding. They have stated that this new research also reveals that the repeated urging of the government to the food industry to cut down the salt in foods has not worked. It has been ineffective in bringing about any positive change in them.
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The Action on Salt people said that the salt that they found in certain brands of pizzas in this year research is even higher than what they found in their 2014 survey. The salt in Domino’s Tandoori Hot standard mozzarella thin and crispy crust pizza has increased from 5.3 grams to 14.4 grams. This is a disgrace, they added.
The campaign lead, Sonia Pombo said:
“Despite our reliance on the food industry to provide us with access to better, healthier options, it’s infuriating to see some companies ignoring the overwhelming evidence in support of salt reduction and, worse still, increasing the salt content further.”
“Pizza manufacturers …..are making a mockery of our voluntary reformulation program.”