Table 1.
Summary table of studies that reported salt content of bread by chemical analysis.
| Reference | Population | Outcome Measured | Method of Measurement | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silva et al., 2015 [51] | All bakeries (n = 17) situated in Maputo city that were listed in the Mozambican Yellow Pages were included. | Na content in bread. | Flame photometry | Mean Na content of bread was 450 mg/100 g, ranging between 255 mg/100 g and 638 mg/100 g, with no significant differences between bakeries and traditional markets. Most samples (88%) did not meet the regulation for South Africa. Mean Na > a, b, and c. |
| Nwanguma and Okorie, 2013 [40] | Retail samples of 100 brands of white bread made from wheat flour, representing the major brands were purchased from 10 standard retail outlets in Nsukka and Enugu towns, both in Enugu State in South-Eastern Nigeria. | Na content in bread. | Flame photometry | Mean Na = 544 mg/100 g. Na ranged from 396 mg to 1332 mg/100 g. Mean Na > a, b, c, and d. |
| Hussain and Takruri, 2016 [52] | 68 samples of seven types of bread were collected from 13 different bakeries in the city of Amman, Jordan. | Na content in bread | Flame photometry | Mean Na content = 476 ± 84 g/100g ranging between 168 ± 20 g for * White Arabic bread to 824 ± 76 g/100 g for * shrak bread. Mean Na > a, b, and c. |
| Zibaeenezhad et al., 2010 [38] | 204 bakeries in districts of Shiraz city in Iran; 408 bread samples were collected from bakeries, measuring the salt content of 6 different kinds of bread. | Na content in bread. | Laboratory testing of salt percentage in bread as outlined by Iran’s Organization for Standards and Industrial Investigations [53] | Mean Na = 524 g/100 g ranging from 0–1400 g/100 g bread. Mean Na > a, b, c, and d. |
| Vukić et al., 2013 [54] | 12 samples of bread purchased in stores from the 3 municipalities: Bijeljina, Zvornik, and East Sarajevo in Bosnia. In each municipality 8 samples were randomly selected. | Na content in bread. | Atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) using an instrument VARIAN Spectr AA-10 [55] |
Mean Na = 405 ± 177 mg/100 g, 489 ± 174 mg/100 g, and 673 ± 119 mg/100 g for East Sarajevo, Bijeljina, and Zvornik, respectively. Bread samples from East Sarajevo, mean Na > a and b. Bread samples from East Bijeljina, mean Na > a, b, and c. Bread samples from East Zvornik, mean Na > a, b, c, d, and e. |
| Ferrante et al., 2011 [39] | 25,000 bakeries countrywide affiliated to Argentinean Federation of Bakeries. | Na content in bakery products. | Dietary recall and flame photometry | Self-reported (using food composition table) mean Na content of French bread = 1.8% (range 1.0% to 4.0%), chemical analysis of French bread, mean Na concentration = 2.0% (range 1.4% to 3.0%) of total salt intake. Mean Na > a, b, c, d, and e |
* White Arabic and shrak bread are bread types in Amman, 2% Na ≈ 4 g of total salt intake. a > 380 mg/100 g—maximum level of Na in bread established by the South African Government; effective June 2019 [41]. b > 400 mg/100 g—maximum level of Na in bread recommended by the Government of Australia [42,43]. c > 450 mg/100 g—maximum level of Na in bread recommended by the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand [42]. d > 490 mg/100 g—Level of Na that is required by the Finnish Government for the designation of “highly salty” on a label [56]. e > 550 mg/100 g—maximum level of Na in bread established by the Portuguese Government [57].