Abstract
Salt consumption in many countries of the world exceeds the level recommended by WHO (5 g/day), which is associated with negative effects on health. Public health strategies to achieve the WHO’s objectives include salt content monitoring, improved nutritional labelling and product reformulation. This study aimed to determine the sodium content in street food (SF), fast foods (FF) and artisanal foods (AF) of the Northwest of Argentina, which is not regulated. Moisture, ash and sodium were determined according to the Official Methods of Analysis (AOAC) in 189 samples from each of the three categories. The average and range values were: SF 520 (R: 74-932); FF 599 (R: 371-1093) and AF 575 (R: 152-1373) mg Na/100 g. Thus, general sodium content is high, which means that the consumption of a serving from most of the studied foods leads to an individual exceeding the recommended daily intake values. This study contributes to the knowledge of sodium content in evaluated foods and its contribution to the population intake. This reinforces the importance of implementing new public policies and regulations, advising consumers to check food nutritional labels andselect foods lower in salt content, raising food manufacturers’ awarenessabout the importance of reducing sodium content in foods they produce and in public health.
Highlights
Dietary salt intake has increased continuously in recent decades to reach 18 g/person/day in some regions of the world
In order to continue with the research on foods that can contribute to the increase in sodium intake and to non-communicable diseases, the objective of this study was to determine the sodium content in street foods, fast foods and artisanal foods that are consumed with high frequency in the Northwest of Argentinaand estimate their contribution to daily intake
The high variability indicates that the greatest influence on the sodium content in this type of product is the salt added by the processor
Summary
Dietary salt intake has increased continuously in recent decades to reach 18 g/person/day in some regions of the world. This is associated with a marked increase in the prevalence of hypertension [1,2]. More recent studies in humans confirmed that the low-salt diet lowers blood pressure in both normotensive and hypertensive individuals [4]. A well-known dietary trial on Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) showed that reducing salt intake from 8 to 4 g/person/day reduced blood pressure among hypertensive and normotensive individuals [5]. There is currently a consensus that the beneficial effect of salt reduction begins with daily intake levels of 5 g/day or less [6,7]. Evidence suggests that to obtain maximum benefit, salt reduction should begin at an early age [8,9]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
