ArticleBMJ open2021
Cross-sectional comparisons of sodium content in processed meat and fish products among five countries: potential for feasible targets and reformulation.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Impact of Socioeconomic Factors and Lifestyle on Salt and Potassium Intake and Sodium-to-Potassium Ratio: EH-UH 2 Study.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Sodium content of Packaged foods in Uruguay by country of origin: regulatory challenges and trade considerations.Globalization and health · 2026Article
- Association between nutrition literacy and hypertension control: chain mediating association of diet-control intention and salt-restriction tools utilization.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Monitoring sodium content in processed and ultraprocessed foods in Argentina 2022: compliance with National Legislation and Regional Targets.Public health nutrition · 2024Observational
- Evaluation of the Nutritional Quality of Chinese Processed Meat Products: Comparison of Two Nutrient Profile Models.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Article
- Enhancing Public Health Competencies via Action on Salt China - China, 2017-2022.China CDC weekly · 2023Article
- Sodium content targets for pre-packaged foods, China: a quantitative study and proposal.Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2023Article
- Mineral and heavy metal content in dry dog foods with different main animal components.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Dietary Intake of Salt from Meat Products in Serbian Population.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Sodium content in processed food items in Sweden compared to other countries: a cross-sectional multinational study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Setting sodium targets for pre-packaged foods in China - an exploratory study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2023Article
- Reducing daily salt intake in China by 1 g could prevent almost 9 million cardiovascular events by 2030: a modelling study.BMJ nutrition, prevention & health · 2022Article
- Nutritional Quality of Pre-Packaged Foods in China under Various Nutrient Profile Models.Nutrients · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
15 authors.
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Abstract
introductionReducing sodium intake has been identified as a highly cost-effective strategy to prevent and control high blood pressure and reduce cardiovascular mortality. This study aims to compare the sodium content in processed meat and fish products among five countries, which will contribute to the evidence-base for feasible strategies of sodium reduction in such products.
methodsSodium content on product labels of 26 500 prepackaged products, 19 601 meat and 6899 fish, was collected in supermarkets from five countries using the FoodSwitch mobile application from 2012 to 2018. To be specific, it was 1898 products in China, 885 in the UK, 5673 in Australia, 946 in South Africa and 17 098 in the USA. Cross-sectional comparisons of sodium levels and proportions meeting 2017 UK sodium reduction targets were conducted using Kruskal-Wallis H and the χ
resultsThe results showed that processed meat and fish products combined in China had the highest sodium level (median 1050 mg/100 g, IQR: 774-1473), followed by the USA, South Africa, Australia, with the lowest levels found in UK (432 mg/100 g, IQR: 236-786) (p<0.001). Similar variations, that is, a twofold to threefold difference of sodium content between the highest and the lowest countries were found among processed meat and fish products separately. Large sodium content variations were also found in certain specific food subcategories across the five countries, as well as across different food subcategories within each country.
conclusionProcessed meat and fish products differ greatly in sodium content across different countries and across different food subcategories. This indicates great potential for food producers to reformulate the products in sodium content, as well as for consumers to select less salted food.
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