February 2012

Wheres the sodium?

Theres too much in many common foods.

About 90% of Americans eat more sodium

9 in 10 than is recommended for a healthy diet.*

Too much sodium increases a persons
risk for high blood pressure. High blood
About 90% of Americans pressure often leads to heart disease and
aged 2 years or older eat stroke. More than 800,000 people die each
too much sodium. year from heart disease, stroke and other
vascular diseases, costing the nation $273
billion health care dollars in 2010. Most of
the sodium we eat comes from processed
foods and foods prepared in restaurants.
Sodium is already part of processed foods and

44%
cannot be removed. However, manufacturers
and restaurants can produce foods with less
sodium. In addition, you can select lower
44% of the sodium we eat sodium foods when possible and you can cook
comes from only 10 types more foods yourself, to better control how
of foods. much sodium you eat.
* The words salt and sodium are sometimes used interchangeably
because most of the sodium we eat is in the form of salt (sodium
chloride). Some salts dont contain sodium.

$20B
To learn more about how to reduce sodium
See page 4

Reducing the sodium www http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns

Americans eat by 1,200 mg
per day on average could
save up to $20 billion a year
in medical costs.

National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention
1
Problem Not all foods are created equal
Understanding sodium in foods Eating less sodium is a challenge
can be confusing Americans eat on average about 3,300 mg of
Types of foods matter: More than 40% of sodium a day. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines
sodium comes from the following 10 types of recommend limiting sodium to less than
foods: Breads and rolls, cold cuts and cured 2,300 mg a day, and about 6 in 10 adults
meats such as deli or packaged ham, or turkey, should further limit sodium to 1,500 mg a
pizza, fresh and processed poultry, soups, day (see http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/
sandwiches such as cheeseburgers, cheese, pasta dga2010/dietaryguidelines2010.pdf).
dishes*, meat-mixed dishes such as meat loaf
Foods that otherwise seem healthy may have
with tomato sauce, and snacks such as chips,
high levels of sodium (e.g., cottage cheese and
pretzels, and popcorn.
turkey breast luncheon meat).
Sources of foods matter: About 65% of
Sodium is already part of processed foods and
sodium eaten comes from food bought at retail
cannot be removed.
stores, so look for lower sodium choices. About
25% comes from restaurants and it can be hard Sodium is included in surprising ways. For
for a person to tell how much sodium is in example, much of the raw chicken and pork
restaurant foods. bought from a store has been injected with a
sodium solution.
Brands of foods matter: Different brands
of the same foods may have different sodium Too many foods in restaurants are high
levels. For example, sodium in chicken noodle in sodium.
soup can vary by as much as 840 milligrams
(mg) per serving. Some foods that you eat several times a day,
such as bread, add up to a lot of sodium even
*The pasta dishes category does not include macaroni and cheese.
Macaroni and cheese is its own category. though each serving is not high in sodium.

Top Sources of
Sodium in the Diet People who should limit their sodium
to 1,500 mg a day are:
Breads and rolls
People who are 51 years or older
Cold cuts and cured meats
African Americans
Pizza
People with high blood pressure
Poultry People with diabetes
Soups People with chronic kidney disease
Sandwiches
Cheese
Pasta dishes
Meat dishes
2 Snacks
Sodium levels of the same food can
vary widely, so choose wisely.
This chart shows a range of sodium amounts in different
types of food. Serving sizes may vary for some foods, e.g.,

Sodium Le
bread slices which may be lower in sodium because of

vels
thinner slices.
Check the Nutrition Facts label which lists sodium content per serving. For help
reading labels, visit http://www.cdc.gov/salt/pdfs/Sodium_Tip_Sheet.pdf.
Egg Breakfas
and chees t Sodium
e sandwic (in milligra
Orange ju h ms*)
Food Sodium Range ice, 1 cup
Coffee, 1 c 760
(in milligrams) up
5
Snac
medium k
1 slice white bread 80 - 230 Banana, 5
3 oz turkey breast, deli or pre-packaged
450 - 1,050
luncheon meat Vegetable Lunch 1
soup &
Iced tea, , sandwich
4 oz slice frozen pizza, plain cheese,
370 - 730 1 cup unsw combo
regular crust etened e 1,450
Snac 10
in) k
4 oz slice restaurant pizza, plain cheese, Ch ips (pla
510 - 760
regular crust
4 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, fresh 40 - 330 Spaghetti Dinner 140
(without a
meat sauc dded salt)
3 oz chicken strips, restaurant, breaded 430 - 900 e (1 cup with
sauce, 3 pasta,
oz meat) c up
3 oz chicken nuggets, frozen, breaded 200 - 570 Garden sa
lad with ra 380
Water, 1 c nch
up dressing
1 cup chicken noodle soup, canned prepared 100 - 940
340
1 corn dog, regular 350 - 620
2 Chocola Snack 10
te ch ip co
1 cheeseburger, fast food restaurant 710 - 1,690
Skim Milk okies
, 1 cup
1 oz slice American cheese, processed 70
330 - 460
(packaged or deli)
Total 100
1 cup canned pasta with meat sauce 530 - 980
5 oz pork with barbecue sauce (packaged) 600 - 1,120
3,271
1 oz potato chips, plain 50 - 200

Sodium adds up quickly in our daily diet

Above is a sample diet of 3 meals and 3 small
snacks with a total sodium content of more than
3,200 mg.
SOURCE: US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National
Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 24 and current
manufacturers data.

Note: Values greater than 10 mg of sodium were rounded to the nearest 10 mg.

See the DASH eating plan at

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/
heart/hbp/dash/new_dash.pdf and other
plans at www.choosemyplate.gov.

SOURCE: US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Nutrient

Database for Standard Reference, Release 24 and current manufacturers data.
3
Note: Values were rounded to the nearest 10 mg.
What Can Be Done
Places that produce, sell, or serve State and local health departments can
food can
Develop and implement efforts that:
Consider joining voluntary initiatives to reduce
sodium such as the National Salt Reduction Increase public awareness about the
Initiative (http://www.nyc.gov/health/salt) amount of sodium added to processed
and packaged foods.
Give choices to consumers to help them reduce
sodium in their diet by: Increase public awareness of the health
outcomes of a high-sodium diet.
Stocking lower sodium foods.
Help reduce sodium in peoples diets.
Asking food manufacturers to provide
lower sodium foods. Encourage reductions in the amount of sodium
in foods purchased in cafeterias and vending
Make phased reductions in the amount of machines.
sodium they add to foods they sell or serve.

Limit the amount of sodium in food products. Everyone can

Provide information about sodium in foods. Choose to purchase healthy options and talk
with your grocer or favorite restaurant about
Federal government is stocking lower sodium food choices.

Using the national Million Hearts initiative Read the Nutrition Facts label while shopping
to prevent a million heart attacks and strokes to find the lowest sodium options of your
over the next 5 years (http://millionhearts.hhs. favorite foods.
gov). Reducing sodium in the population is a
major part of this initiative. Eat a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables and
frozen fruits and vegetables without sauce.
Encouraging its agencies and departments to
adopt the HHS/GSA or similar procurement Limit processed foods high in sodium.
guidelines that define how much sodium When eating out, request lower sodium options.
there can be in products that are sold or
served in their facilities (www.cdc.gov/ Support initiatives that reduce sodium in foods
chronicdisease/resources/guidelines/food- in cafeterias and vending machines.
service-guidelines.htm).

Improving data collection on sodium,

including the amount of sodium people
For more information, please contact
consume, and their knowledge, behaviors and
Telephone: 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636)
health outcomes.
TTY: 1-888-232-6348
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.cdc.gov
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333
www http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns Publication date: 2/7/2012

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