A comprehensive analysis of sodium levels in the Canadian packaged food supply.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Population-wide sodium reduction strategies aim to reduce the cardiovascular burden of excess dietary sodium. Lowering sodium in packaged foods, which contribute the most dietary sodium, is an important intervention to lower population intakes.

Purpose

To determine sodium levels in Canadian packaged foods and evaluate the proportion of foods meeting sodium benchmark targets set by Health Canada.

Methods

A cross-sectional analysis of 7,234 packaged foods available in Canada in 2010-2011. Sodium values were obtained from the Nutrition Facts table.

Results

Overall, 51.4% of foods met one of the sodium benchmark levels: 11.5% met Phase 1, 11.1% met Phase 2, and 28.7% met 2016 goal (Phase 3) benchmarks. Food groups with the greatest proportion meeting goa

SUBMITTER: Arcand J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4870024 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature