bread 'as salty as seawater' - Telegraph.co.uk

Cash researchers tested 300 popular loaves of bread and found that high street bakers and supermarkets' in-store bakeries, where fresh products are often sold without nutritional labelling, were responsible for the highest salt levels.

Another loaf from Paul contained 1.85g of salt per 100g serving, equal to two thick slices, while breads from Le Pain Quotidien and Greggs both measured about 1.41g and 1.39g respectively for the same serving.

Packaged loaves also had high sodium levels, with Cranks seeded farmhouse bread recording 2.03g in every 100g, and a Vogels original mixed grain loaf containing 1.38g of salt per 100g.

Nutritional guidelines advise that children aged four to six should eat no more than 3g of salt per day, meaning a young child could go over their entire daily limit by eating a single sandwich.

The daily salt limit rises to 5g for seven to 10 year olds and 6g in those over 11, but eating two slices of toast in the morning could still account for more than half of that.

A separate study by consumer watchdog Which? found that other lunch box snacks can compound the problem.

A pack of Dairylea Lunchables Ham'n'Cheese crackers contains 1.8g of salt, more than half a five-year-old's recommended daily intake, while a 200ml bottle of blackcurrant and apple Robinsons Fruit Shoot drink includes 22g of sugar, a quarter of the maximum amount for a five to 10-year-old.

Government targets for 2012 state that bread should contain no more than 1g of salt per 100g serving.

Prof Graham MacGregor, Cash chairman, said: "It is frankly outrageous that bread still contains so much salt.

"If all manufacturers went beyond these targets and 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."

Dr Lorna Layward, spokesperson for The Stroke Association, said: "Too much salt can lead to high blood pressure which is the single biggest risk factor for stroke.

"Although many people recognise that too much salt can be bad for them, they may not realise that before you add any salt to your food, you may have already consumed up to five times this amount without even tasting it."