New Delhi:Packaged food items including ‘papads’, sauces and spreads, sold in India have high level of salts which causes high blood pressure, increase the risk of stroke and heart attacks, the leading causes of death and disability in the country, a study said today.
The study on 5,796 packaged food products, by The George Institute for Global Health India, revealed huge difference in salt content in two similar products, with some even containing almost 10 times more salt than others, it said, adding less than a quarter of these products would meet the UK-2017 salt targets.
It was also revealed that no nutrition information was printed on the labels of food products, therefore, they failed to meet the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) national nutrition labelling requirements for processed foods (2011).
The research was conducted by George Institute for Global Health, Public Health Foundation of India and the Centre for Chronic Disease Control in India.
The study said two-third of the products do not list salt on the nutrition information panel and do not meet International Codex Alimentarius requirements.
Some products contain excessively high levels of salt like papads which have a mean sodium content of 1219mg/100g with a range of 2-4000mg/100g.
This illustrates that papads can be made with as little as 2mg of sodium/100g, 2000 times less sodium than the papad with the highest sodium content, it said.
“The main problem caused by salt is high blood pressure which greatly increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and kidney failure. These are all now leading causes of death and disability in India,” said Vivekanand Jha, Executive Director, The George Institute for Global Health India.
The research looked at 9 main food categories which contribute salt to the diet in India and revealed that many food groups contain excessively high levels of salt.
It found that cooking sauces, table sauces and spreads contained on average five-and-a-half gram of salt per 100g, with some containing 10 times that amount and others with almost no salt at all.
“This is particularly alarming as sauces and spread are often added to meals and with such high salt contents, it will add substantially more salt to the diet,” said Jha.