TABLE 3.

Distribution of sodium content in milligrams per 100 g in branded packaged foods by the top food categories contributing to sodium consumption¹

Rank2	Food category	Range	Mean ± SD	Percentile
				10th	25th	50th	75th	90th
1	Breads and rolls	0–857	486 ± 90	370	435	494	536	577
	Frozen	320–698	470 ± 88	344	368	474	541	561
	Fresh bread	0–857	489 ± 93	370	441	494	540	588
	Fresh buns/rolls/bagels/etc.	300–808	477 ± 76	376	423	494	519	549
2	Cold cuts and cured meats	633–2257	1117 ± 234	864	988	1093	1214	1376
	Canned	794–1393	1159 ± 227	864	988	1041	1393	1393
	Refrigerated	633–2257	1114 ± 234	864	988	1093	1204	1340
3	Pizza	229–812	555 ± 94	439	494	548	630	688
4	Poultry	57–860	351 ± 191	76	179	339	515	631
5	Soups	66–1881	410 ± 262	182	255	338	457	714
6	Sandwiches	196–1025	554 ± 134	361	459	578	643	713
7	Cheese	56–1799	964 ± 390	600	635	776	1323	1481
	Natural	56–1376	647 ± 179	459	600	635	705	786
	Processed	304–1799	1326 ± 214	1223	1270	1323	1467	1481
	Shredded/grated	159–1786	815 ± 339	600	635	670	776	1517
8	Pasta mixed dishes	178–2463	460 ± 385	232	287	357	438	829
	Frozen	178–590	306 ± 73	215	245	311	342	404
	Other	242–2463	605 ± 491	287	359	438	466	1146
9	Meat mixed dishes	53–923	426 ± 135	275	335	408	536	564
	Frozen	53–923	408 ± 146	259	306	379	509	578
	Canned	323–597	472 ± 84	356	383	470	560	564
10	Savory snacks	0–2152	703 ± 307	397	516	635	847	1058
	Potato chips	18–1404	667 ± 190	464	598	635	739	850
	Tortilla chips	0–995	531 ± 159	388	406	529	635	741
	Other	53–2152	926 ± 375	516	647	907	1083	1359
11	Burritos, tacos, tamales	131–1368	420 ± 197	238	265	388	491	637
12	Frankfurters and sausages	310–1651	927 ± 216	634	811	926	1088	1199
	Sausages	310–1651	805 ± 215	556	634	811	911	1076
	Frankfurters/bratwursts	406–1481	1023 ± 161	826	917	1036	1158	1214
13	Salad dressings and vegetable oils	35–2187	1072 ± 298	741	917	1067	1199	1446
14	Ready-to-eat cereal	0–941	513 ± 219	136	448	559	670	705
15	Tomato-based condiments	106–1679	974 ± 274	661	772	1106	1117	1235
16	Eggs and egg mixed dishes	68–657	293 ± 158	168	168	203	379	534
17	Fried rice, lo mein, stir-fry mixtures	113–776	289 ± 122	156	208	267	323	469
18	Poultry mixed dishes	75–1235	426 ± 192	231	298	384	524	679
19	Biscuits, muffins, quick breads	250–1689	710 ± 295	344	383	847	952	1004
	Frozen/refrigerated	344–1689	928 ± 183	612	935	952	1004	1058
	Fresh	250–952	369 ± 121	289	317	353	383	423
	Mixes	364–1429	756 ± 201	458	613	847	847	847
20	Macaroni and cheese	201–1204	685 ± 241	353	427	829	847	902

¹Distribution is based on equivalized sales-weighted estimates [weighted by the number of equivalent units sold in ounces or each (1 ounce = 28.35 grams)].

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.