The salt guideline recommends choosing foods low in salt. How can I identify low-salt foods?
By definition, in Australia and New Zealand any food that is claimed to be ‘low-salt’ must contain no more than 120 milligrams of sodium per 100 grams of food (120 mg/100 g), and this must be clearly stated on the label. Most processed foods have far more salt than thisfor example, most breads, breakfast cereals and savoury biscuits contain at least 500 mg/100 g; some processed cheeses have 1,500 mg/100 g; while meat and fish preserved with salt usually have between 1,200 and 5,000 mg/100 g. By carefully reading food labels you can identify those processed foods that are truly ‘low-salt’. For practical purposes every fresh food in its natural state (unsalted) is also suitable. It is true that the sodium content can exceed 120 mg/100 g in a few natural foods such as eggs, kidneys and some seafoodsspecifically crustacea (e.g. crabmeat, prawns, lobster), and molluscs (including oysters, mussels, squid)but a balanced diet of low-salt foods containing typical quantities of these foods would
