IJERPH, Vol. 17, Pages 2469: A Survey on Salt Content Labeling of the Processed Food Available in Malaysia

IJERPH, Vol. 17, Pages 2469: A Survey on Salt Content Labeling of the Processed Food Available in Malaysia International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph17072469 Authors: Hasnah Haron Ivy Hiew Suzana Shahar Viola Michael Rashidah Ambak Salt content in processed foods is high, and it is usually used as preservatives, stabilizers, and color enhancers in the products. Increased consumption of processed foods in the modern world has contributed to a high salt intake and thus increased the prevalence of hypertension among Malaysian populations. Therefore, this study aimed to identify and compare salt content in processed food products available in supermarkets and determine the percentage of processed food products exceeding the reference value stated in International Product Criteria (2016). The percentage of processed food products without salt and sodium labeling was determined in this study, in which 76.5% of unlabeled processed food products were made in Malaysia, while 23.5% were imported products. The food group with the highest average salt content was gravy and sauce (3.97 g/100 g), followed by soup (2.95 g/100 g), cheese (2.14 g/100 g), meat (1.37 g/100 g), fish (1.25 g/100 g), chicken (1.20 g/100 g), vegetables (1.18 g/100 g), butter and margarine (1.13 g/100 g), breakfast cereal (0.94 g/100 g), savory snacks (0.90 g/100 g), flatbread (0.86 g/100 g), sweet snacks (0.30 g/100 g), and potato (0.29 g/100 g). In additio...
Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research