Parents alerted to high salt levels in sweet foods

Published on Sunday 27 January 2008 23:01

SWEET foods popular with children can mask high levels of salt, a campaign group warned today.

Although parents may think some desserts, sweet drinks and snacks contain no salt at all, a serving of some products contains more than half of the maximum daily limit for youngsters.

Research of products by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash) found an average 100g portion of Butterkist The Simpsons honey nut popcorn contained 1.25g of salt. This is 63 per cent of the maximum daily limit for children aged one to three and 42 per cent of the limit for four- to six-year-olds.

A 114g Asda fresh roly-poly pudding had 1.1g of salt – 55 per cent of the recommended daily maximum for under-threes.

A Heinz treacle sponge pudding in a tin had 0.8g of salt per quarter of a tin. This is 40 per cent of the daily maximum for a child aged one to three and 27 per cent for a child aged four to six.

The group wants food firms to lower the amount of salt in children's foods and show salt content clearly on product labels. Professor Graham MacGregor, Cash's chairman, said research showed children with high-salt diets had higher blood pressure.

A survey of 2,375 parents by Cash and parenting website Netmums.com found many were unaware of high salt levels in sweet foods.