TABLE 1.

Number of products, unique brands, equivalent units sold, RACC, and label serving size in branded packaged foods by the top food categories contributing to sodium consumption¹

Rank2	Food category	Products, n	Unique brands, n	Equivalent units sold,3 in millions	RACC4	Label serving size,5 g
						Range	Mean
1	Breads and rolls	705	114	2006	50 g	18–104	45
	Frozen	22	10	39		35–94	51
	Fresh bread	490	94	1444		18–76	40
	Fresh buns/rolls/bagels/etc.	193	48	523		26–104	63
2	Cold cuts and cured meats	294	46	840	55 g	28–85	45
	Canned	14	6	60		57–85	59
	Refrigerated	280	42	780		28–85	44
3	Pizza	157	19	752	140 g	68–284	138
4	Poultry	38	20	107	114 g	57–227	112
5	Soups	199	9	1529	245 g	64–305	201
6	Sandwiches	122	17	357	140 g	32–201	113
7	Cheese	506	59	1240	5–55 g	5–96	26
	Natural	257	37	487		16–85	27
	Processed	127	30	400		17–96	24
	Shredded/grated	122	13	352		5–28	26
8	Pasta mixed dishes	181	21	980	140–195 g or 1 cup	31–482	222
	Frozen	110	12	400		132–482	265
	Other	71	9	580		31–284	181
9	Meat mixed dishes	110	30	486	140–195 g or 1 cup	82–454	246
	Frozen	79	20	368		82–454	255
	Canned	31	11	118		213–298	225
10	Savory snacks	463	82	2450	30 g	18–71	29
	Potato chips	114	21	868		21–42	28
	Tortilla chips	118	26	758		27–44	28
	Other	231	49	824		18–71	30
11	Burritos, tacos, tamales	95	23	247	140–195 g	28–513	138
12	Frankfurters and sausages	417	91	1205	55–75 g	28–170	62
	Sausages	247	61	559		30–170	67
	Frankfurters/bratwursts	170	45	646		28–113	58
13	Salad dressings and vegetable oils	229	24	376	30 g	8–32	28
14	Ready-to-eat cereal	148	44	1,341	15–55 g	26–64	37
15	Tomato-based condiments	167	36	538	15–125 g	14–67	26
16	Eggs and egg mixed dishes	20	5	76	50–110 g	45–227	94
17	Fried rice, lo mein, stir-fry mixtures	72	19	150	140–195 g or 1 cup	85–425	263
18	Poultry mixed dishes	155	25	558	140–195 g or 1 cup	68–489	224
19	Biscuits, muffins, quick breads	97	18	562	55 g	27–113	54
	Frozen/refrigerated	46	4	197		28–113	60
	Fresh	26	6	180		32–92	57
	Mixes	25	9	185		27–47	38
20	Macaroni and cheese	22	7	318	1 cup	58–365	135

¹RACC, Reference Amount Customarily Consumed (per eating occasion).

²Ranks are based on descending order of food group’s contribution to total sodium consumption among all participants (aged ≥2 y) in NHANES 2007–2008 as published in reference 19 and expanded to include the top 20 food categories. Subgroups are based on Nielsen modules to group similar products.

³Units sold in ounces or each (1 ounce = 28.35 grams).

⁴RACC as defined by the Food and Drug Administration general provision (23). For mixed dish–type foods that can be measured in cups (e.g., fried rice), the RACC is 1 cup. For mixed dish–type foods that cannot be measured in cups (e.g., lasagna), the RACC is given in grams.

⁵Ranges and mean serving sizes in grams from the products’ Nutrition Facts Panel. Mean serving size is based on equivalized sales-weighted estimates (weighted by the number of equivalent units sold in ounces or each).