Salt vs sodium on labels


(Mick) #1

Right, so I’ve just had the notion that I might have been under-salting myself, since I’m only really OK on fairly high sodium counts according to MyFitnessPal.

When a food label states that it has say, 1g salt per 100g, I’ve been entering that into MFP as 1000mg sodium.

Should I have been entering something more like 350mg of sodium, since it should be assumed that the rest of the ‘salt’ is chloride and other non-sodium salts?

Thanks


(Failed) #2

Don’t most labels list sodium rather than salt? Here in the US it’s listed as sodium.


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #3

38,758 mg of sodium per 100 grams of salt.


(Mick) #4

when you say salt, you mean sodium chloride? I’m pretty sure the sodium content in Himalayan rock salt is allot lower.


(Mick) #5

yeah, Europe has ‘salt’ on the labels

It’s annoying because you can’t know if they mean NaCl, a total of all salts, or actually sodium.


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #6

@micalith, Yes, a bit less:

So much confusion about sodium!

In a survey conducted by the American Heart Association in 2011, 61 percent of respondents incorrectly said sea salt is a low-sodium an alternative to table salt. Here’s the truth: most salts – including sea salt, table salt, kosher salt, and Himalayan pink salt - contain about 40 percent sodium.

The label might claim to have less sodium than table salt, and here’s why: it’s about the volume of salt that can fit into your measuring spoon. I know! Crazy, right? Let me explain further. If the salt crystals are small, more of them will fit into your measuring spoon than if they are large. So, while table salt may have about 2300 mg of sodium in a teaspoon , there are about 2000 mg of sodium per teaspoon if you are using sea salt , and pink Himalayan salt has about 1700 mg of sodium per teaspoon …all because the volume of the salt crystals in a teaspoon are different! To get a clearer picture, you can check the food package, Nutrition Facts label to compare how each type of salt compares to table salt. Check out how much sodium you should eat for more information.

Source


(Mick) #7

yeah, I always get annoyed when American recipes give volume measurements. Give me grams so I know what I’m doing right!

Interesting to know how they fudge the sodium content that way. Dishonest greedy bastards


(traci simpson) #8

How do you know when you’re not getting enough salt? Besides leg cramps.


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #9