Salt intake in Gujaratis very high: Study

A research has found that Gujaratis consume sodium which is much above the normal level as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Interestingly, it also found that the analyzed sodium content of most frequently consumed processed and packaged foods were higher than the reported values mentioned in the labels.

Therefore, it called for a need to formulate and implement a national salt reduction programme. It said there was also a need for better nutrition facts label on food and beverage packages in order to make low sodium food choices.

The study, titled 'Sodium intake pattern in West Indian population' was published in the Indian Journal of community medicine. The study by Siri Nair and Sulagna Bandyopadhyay of the Department of Foods and Nutrition, Faculty of Family and Community Sciences, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda covered 218 people from Vadodara.

It confirmed that 96% of the study population had sodium intake beyond the safe consumption level recommended by WHO. It further found that sodium consumption from processed and packaged foods was significantly higher among men as compared to women possibly due to rapid urbanization, eating out, and consumption of fast foods. The study that had 45.9% of individuals from the upper socioeconomic strata found that an almost equal percentage (45%) had at least two to four products (high in sodium) in a week.

"The mean sodium consumption from fast, processed, and packaged food items were double to the raw foodstuffs," the study said.

Pritee Shah, CGM of CERC, a consumer rights organisation that has carried out several tests on nutritional claims of various packaged foods, said putting up signs that warn a consumer about a product that is high in sodium, sugar and fat can go a long way in pushing people to make healthy choices.

"In India, it is not mandatory for every food product to mention the level of sodium content. They mention it in the ingredients. Many manufacturers do it willingly but there is no standardized way of how they calculate it. We have often called for a need to mention these on food packages," said Shah.

She said a traffic light system that is being now used in some developed countries can also be of help. "Under the system, if a product is high in sugar, fat or sodium it has a red dot on it thus immediately warning the consumers what they are about to have. I believe having such a system in India will drive us towards making more healthy choices," said Shah.

Youth, beware!

Study found that men in the age group of 25-34 years were the highest consumer of processed and packaged foods. Those in the age group of 25 to 44 years had also higher intake of natural food sodium compared to the female while table salt/sodium consumption was significantly higher among females than males.