New concerns have been raised today about the amount of salt found in popular soups.
The Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash) has found that many soups contain more than a third of a day's recommended maximum salt limit. This is despite the fact that targets set by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) have now been met.
Researchers analysed some 576 soups in all and 48 per cent were found to contain more than the target level of 0.6 grams of salt per 100 grams.
The biggest offenders were found to be Baxters Canned Vegetarian Tomato and Orange, Morrisons Canned Oxtail and Morrisons Minestrone simmer soup. All of these had 1.3 grams of salt per 100 grams.
At the other end of the scale, the Celeriac Mash Soup from Pret a Manger contained just 0.12 grams of salt per 100 grams, which equates to a ten-fold difference. Simply Organic has also received special praise, due to an average salt content of only 0.24 grams for 100 grams.
Analysts were particularly worried by their findings in Asda and Tesco, where economy lines were shown to contain much more salt than alternatives. The Asda soup with most salt was the one in the economy line, which means that low-income families are particularly susceptible to unwitting salt consumption.
Worryingly, three per cent of all soups analysed had more than three grams of salt per serving, which equates to half of the daily maximum adult limit. More than a fifth (22 per cent) had more than two grams of salt per serving.
"We are really concerned that the soups mentioned are a major hidden source of salt," said Jo Butten, Cash nutritionist and author of the Cash Salt Levels in Soup Report 2007.
"This is particularly important as soup generally only forms part of a meal, or, in the case of instant cup soups, is drunk as a snack or as an alternative to tea or coffee during the day. The average salt content of the cup soups surveyed was 0.8 grams of salt per 100 grams and they can contain up to half an adult's daily maximum salt limit in one cup."
Ms Butten suggested that a snack should contain just ten per cent of an adult's daily intake of salt. As many people will eat soup as a filler between meals, nutritionists are concerned that many individuals are endangering themselves inadvertently.
A recent report found that cutting salt intake by three grams per day can reduce the risk of suffering a stroke or heat attack by as much as a quarter.
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