Foods where a lot of salt is hidden

Packaged and canned products, but also cured meats and cheeses.

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foods that contain more salt
Among the many dangers of salt, there's one that's easily camouflaged. There are foods that don't appear or taste salty, but actually contain a lot of salt, both to impart a distinctive flavor and to preserve them. Before we explain which ones they are, it's important to know how to recognize them. The method is simple: just know how to read the nutrition label, where you'll often find "salt" or "sodium." In this case, you need to do a quick conversion, knowing that 1 gram of sodium equals 2,5 grams of salt.
On the quantity instead, Please follow these thresholds:
  • ≤ 0,3 g of salt per 100 g: a value indicating a low salt content
  • 0,3 – 1,5 g per 100 g: in this case the value is considered average
  • > 1,5 g per 100 g: we are in the presence of a high salt content.

And let's see which commonly consumed foods, especially packaged ones, contain the most hidden salt.

hidden salt in foods: how to reduce it 2

Here are the main foods where a lot of salt is hidden:

1) Industrial baked goods

  • Packaged bread, breadsticks, crackers, focaccia
  • Croissants and savory snacks

2) Cured meats and processed meats

  • Ham, salami, mortadella, speck, bacon
  • Ready-made sausages and hamburgers

3) Cheeses

  • Especially mature and semi-mature cheeses: parmesan, pecorino, gorgonzola, feta

4) Ready-made and frozen meals

  • Lasagna, frozen pizza, ready-made sauces
  • Packaged soups and stews

5) Snacks and “aperitif” foods

  • Chips, salted peanuts, seasoned olives
  • Taralli, nachos

6) Sauces and condiments

  • Soy sauce (very high in sodium)
  • Ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard
  • Stock cubes and seasonings

7) Breakfast and cereals (unsuspected)

  • Packaged cereals, especially “salted” or industrial whole grain ones

8) Fast food and catering bread

  • Sandwiches, hamburgers, stuffed wraps
9) Smoked salmon. 

If you consume it frequently, it is advisable to balance your sodium intake by including plenty of fruits and vegetables in your daily diet.

10 French fries. 

They're a popular and widespread food, especially in the industrial version. But they're fried in oil rich in saturated fats, which can increase cardiometabolic risk and promote hypertension.

When you buy one of these 10 products, once you've read the labels, you can make all the necessary comparisons and see which ones contain less salt.

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