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Concern over salt levels in bread

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More than 1 in 4 loaves of bread contain as much or more salt per slice than a packet of crisps, a survey has found.

The alarming findings follow news that bread is the largest contributor of salt to the UK diet, providing almost a fifth of current daily salt intake.

Consensus Action on Salt & Health (CASH) surveyed the salt content of 294 fresh and packaged loaves from supermarkets and their in-store bakeries, as well as chain and independent high street bakeries, and found large variations in the salt content of the bread.

For instance, the highest standard packaged bread, Cranks Seeded Farmhouse at 2.03g/100g, contains nearly four times more salt than the lowest, a Marks & Spencer’s Simply More Eat Well Healthiest White Bread (0.58g/100g).

CASH found supermarkets’ unlabelled in-store bakery bread is generally higher in salt than the supermarkets’ packaged bread, with differences of more than half a gram between similar products.

Premium high street bakery chains such as Paul and Le Pain Quotidien also fared poorly, their bread being both unlabeled and in some instances containing more than three times as much salt per 100g than bread baked in supermarkets.

Bread

Bread

“Most people wouldn’t realise that bread contains so much salt, as it doesn’t taste salty,” said Katharine Jenner, CASH Campaign Director.

CASH said speciality breads, such as rye bread, are often perceived as healthier options; however, they can be deceptively high in salt. It advises consumers to choose products containing 1 gram or less salt per 100g, or about 0.4g per slice.

“With bread being the biggest contributor of salt to our diets, it is frankly outrageous that bread still contains so much salt. The Department of Health needs to ensure that all bread is clearly labelled and that all manufacturers reduce the salt of bread to less than the salt target of 1g/100g,” said Professor Graham MacGregor of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine and Chairman of CASH.


“It is the very high levels of salt that is hidden in everyday food, such as bread, that puts up both adults’ and children’s blood pressure. If all manufacturers cut the salt in their breads by a half, it would reduce our salt intakes by half a gram per day, which is predicted to prevent over 3,000 deaths from strokes and heart attacks a year.”

Popular packaged breads with highest salt content (per 100g)

*Cranks seeded farmhouse, 2.03g
*Vogel’s original mixed grain, 1.38g
*Asda Chosen By You Baker’s Gold white farmhouse, 1.2g
*Marks & Spencer Eat Well multigrain bloomer with 30% grains, 1.15g
*Morrisons thick sunflower and pumpkin loaf, 1.1g

Five loaves with lowest salt

*Marks & Spencer Simply More Eat Well healthiest white bread, 0.58g
*Tesco Stayfresh white sliced bread medium, 0.6g
*Marks & Spencer Eat Well oaty bloomer, made with 30% oats, 0.65g
*Marks & Spencer toasting white, 0.73g
*Sainsbury’s medium wholemeal, 0.74g

Fortified tomatoes go on sale

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It is the perfect excuse to have that last piece of pizza.

‘Super tomatoes’ fortified with minerals have just hit shelves across the UK.

Ordinary tomatoes – which are already viewed as one of the superfoods – have been enriched with selenium, a powerful anti-oxidant that boosts the immune system and may prevent cancer.

The mineral, found naturally in foods such as Brazil nuts, shellfish and liver, is also important for the thyroid gland, which determines how quickly the body uses energy and also produces proteins.

The new tomatoes, which cost £1.99 for 300g, have gone on sale in Marks & Spencer. Food scientists for the company turned their attention to the mineral because it is lacking in UK diets. Low concentrations in farm soil means little of the mineral finds its way into home-grown foods.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes

There is evidence that a deficiency may lead to heart disease and, while it does not tend to directly cause illnesses, it can make the body more likely to catch infections.

Dr Carina Norris, of the Nutrition Society, said the tomatoes were a great way to get the nutrient into our diets.

‘Selenium plays an important role in supporting the immune system, and it’s thought that getting adequate selenium reduces our risk of cancer,’ she said.


‘But many people in the UK don’t get enough from their diets – the latest data suggests the average person consumes well below the (daily) target of 60microgrammes for women and 75 for men.

‘So to get a “difficult” nutrient like selenium into a food that more or less everyone eats – such as tomatoes – has to be a good thing.’ The tomato is the latest product developed by Marks & Spencer to try to improve customers’ health.

It follows the store’s Vitamin D-enriched milk, yoghurts and juice developed to help tackle health problems caused by a lack of sunshine, such as rickets.

M&S produce technologist Dr Simon Coupe said: ‘We want to make it easy for our customers to eat healthily and our new tomatoes are win-win – the taste of summer with a boost for your immune system.’