4 lower-salt grocery options

Beware salt in packaged foods

A diet that’s high in sodium has been linked to heart disease, osteoporosis and other health problems. The recommended daily limit for sodium is between 1,500 and 2,300 milligrams, yet Canadians consume, on average, more than double that amount. You should be careful about adding salt to your meals-just one teaspoon (5 mL) contains 2,325 milligrams of sodium. And according to Statistics Canada, even people who don’t add salt to their food still get an average of 2,900 milligrams daily. Why? It’s added to many processed and packaged foods. To help you find better options, we scoured the grocery store shelves comparing products’ nutrition labels:

Campbell’s Soup

Swap this: Campbell’s Creams Cream of Mushroom soup has just 110 calories and 7 g fat in a 1/2-cup (125 mL) serving of prepared soup. But it also has 850 mg sodium. (Note: Nutritional info is for soup made with water instead of milk.)

For this: Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup, now with 25 percent less sodium, has 100 calories, 5 g fat-and almost half the sodium (470 mg) for the same-sized serving of prepared soup (again, when made with water instead of milk).

Cooking sauce

Swap this: Blue Dragon Chow Mein Cooking Sauce is tasty in stir-fries. But 1/4 cup has 280 mg sodium (70 cal¬ories and 1.5 g fat).

For this: Blue Dragon Sweet & Sour Cooking Sauce slashes the sodium, with 1/4 cup having 180 mg (90 calories and 1 g fat).

Salad dressing

Swap this: Kraft Zesty Italian dressing is a simple and healthy salad topper, with 30 calories and 3 g fat in 1 Tbsp (15 mL). But it has 150 mg sodium.

For this: Kraft Mandarin Orange with Sesame dressing has the same amount of fat, a few more calories (45 per Tbsp), but just 90 mg sodium in 1 Tbsp.

Mott’s Garden Cocktail

Swap this: Mott’s Garden Cocktail Original has 2 servings of vegetables and just 60 calories (plus 0.5 g fat) in a 1-cup (250 mL) serving. The bad news? It has 650 mg sodium.

For this: Mott’s Garden Cocktail Low Sodium has fewer calories (50) and less fat (0.2 g) in the same-sized serving, and it really cuts back on the sodium: only 140 mg in 1 cup.

Related:
• Quiz: How much sodium is in your food?
• Canada’s approach to cutting sodium
• 8 tips to lower your sodium intake