TABLE 1.

Sodium content of processed foods in the United Kingdom

Food group category	No. of products	Proportion of annual sodium purchases	Range	Unweighted mean1	Weighted mean12
		%	mg sodium/100 g	mg sodium/100 g	mg sodium/100 g
Bread and bakery products				257	348
Bread	2210	9.6	0–1200	397	426
Morning goods3	403	0.0	0–1100	275	350
Biscuits and cookies	2198	2.8	0–1700	374	325
Cakes and pastries	5083	0.8	0–2700	145	119
Cereal and cereal products				245	290
Breakfast cereals	965	3.3	0–1000	274	346
Cereal bars	413	0.1	0–612	186	223
Pasta	922	0.7	0–1200	216	196
Couscous	86	0.0	0–1500	357	205
Rice and savory noodles	559	0.4	0–2400	268	216
Processed meat				590	696
Bacon	814	7.5	0–2800	1298	1346
Sliced ham	794	2.1	0–2600	939	912
Sausages	662	2.2	0–1900	629	623
Meat and pastry products	1302	1.8	70–1500	406	435
Cooked meat	649	1.5	0–3500	908	728
Canned meat	96	0.3	400–1400	951	932
Paste and spreads	318	0.2	100–1100	640	665
Processed poultry	1950	1.3	0–1250	311	3335
Frozen processed meat	1311	1.5	0–1500	319	336
Black and white puddings4	17	0.0	370–960	764	664
Dairy				323	111
Cheese	4813	4.9	0–2000	463	568
Yogurt	820	0.8	0–600	76	86
Yogurt drinks	117	0.0	0–350	26	24
Milk	749	5.8	0–600	64	71
Cream	259	0.1	0–500	44	54
Ice cream	684	0.4	0–1000	75	80
Edible oils				501	547
Butter	111	1.1	0–1200	533	487
Margarine	168	2.9	0–1000	564	597
Cooking oils	32	0.0	0–1000	59	69
Fish and fish products				401	365
Processed fish	1764	1.3	0–6200	385	355
Canned fish	548	0.9	0–6000	453	383
Processed vegetables				195	172
Baked beans	180	2.1	90–700	319	311
Canned peas and beans	311	0.3	0–600	185	194
Other canned vegetables	375	0.3	0–700	137	85
Frozen vegetables and vegetarian meals	938	1.7	0–1950	132	118
Sour pickles	242	0.2	0–1600	433	331
Instant mashed potatoes	36	0.0	0–600	279	256
Herbs, spices, and salt	1141	22.6	0–40,000	4635	32,800
Snack foods				739	709
Crisps or chips and snacks	1458	3.2	0–2500	739	709
Convenience foods				379	347
Pizza	1033	1.4	70–1100	429	438
Ready meals	2601	1.7	0–1610	317	325
Soup	1266	1.3	0–8180	463	305
Sauces and spreads				1090	1054
Mayonnaise and salad dressings	510	1.1	0–2000	649	770
Sauces and stocks	2761	9.2	0–29,500	1286	1167
Spreads	436	0.3	0–1390	365	370
Nonalcoholic beverages				601	582
Chocolate beverages and cocoa	175	0.3	0–3000	601	582

¹Mean values are averages of all recorded values.

²Weighted by purchase volumes (product weight × number of units sold over 12 mo).

³Buns, teacakes, scones, crumpets, pikelets, or muffins.

⁴Type of sausage consisting of meat, fat, suet, and oatmeal (and blood in black pudding).