Sodium and salt
(Last updated August 2011)
What is salt?
People sometimes confuse sodium and salt. Sodium is part of what makes up salt, which is also called sodium chloride. It’s the sodium in salt that can be bad for your health. Too much sodium has been linked with increased blood pressure and hypertension, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, including stroke and heart attack.
Sodium in food
Most of the sodium in our food comes from salt, which is added to foods for flavour and as a preservative. Sodium also occurs naturally in almost all foods and can be present in processed foods through food additives, e.g. sodium bicarbonate in cakes and biscuits.
What are the recommended sodium intakes?
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) recommends adults eat less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day (equivalent to about 6,000 mg or 6 g of salt). The NHMRC Dietary Guidelines for Australian Adults recommend choosing foods low in salt.
How much sodium do Australians eat?
FSANZ estimates that Australians aged two years and older eat an average of 2,150 mg of sodium per day from an average of 5,500 mg of salt (5.5 g). About 80 per cent of this would be from processed foods and 20 per cent from salt used at the table or in home cooking. This estimate does not include the smaller amounts of sodium coming from naturally occurring sodium or sodium-containing food additives. Because this is an average value, there will be a lot of Australians who eat more than this and more than the recommended maximum intakes.
Foods that contribute the most to Australians’ salt consumption are bread and bread rolls, meat, poultry and game products, including processed meat, and cereal products and cereal-based dishes such as biscuits and pizza.
Is sodium identified on food labels?
Salt and sodium-containing additives must be identified in the ingredients list on food labels. The total sodium content of packaged foods (including naturally occurring sodium, sodium from additives and added salt) must also be declared on the Nutrition Information Panel on the food label. Many fast food companies also provide this information at the point of sale.
Want more information?
More detail on FSANZ’s estimates of sodium intake
Australian Government activities to encourage salt reduction in foods