The Salt Content of Lunch Meals Eaten at Danish Worksites

Anne Dahl Lassen*, Ellen Trolle, Anette Bysted, Pia Knuthsen, Elisabeth Wreford Andersen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

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Abstract

Monitoring levels of sodium (salt) in meals consumed out-of-home is needed to support effective implementation of salt-reduction strategies. The objective of the study was to examine lunch salt intake at 15 worksite canteens and to compare with results from a comparable study conducted 10 years before. A duplicate-portion-technique with subsequent chemical analysis was used to quantify 240 customers’ lunch salt intake. Estimated mean salt intake was 2.6 g/meal (95% Cl: 2.2 to 3.0 g/meal) and 0.78 g/100 g (95% Cl: 0.69 to 0.88 g/100 g). Salt intake measured both as g per meal and per 100 g was found to be significantly higher for male compared with female participants (+0.10 g/100 g, 95% Cl: +0.02 to +0.17 g/100 g, p = 0.011). Compared with the study conducted 10 years before, there was a significantly lower estimated salt intake of 0.5 g/meal (95% CI: −0.8 to −0.2 g/meal, p = 0.001), suggesting a possible reduction in canteen lunch salt intake during a 10-year period. Still, 40% of the meals exceeded the Nordic Keyhole label requirements of maximum 0.8 g salt per 100 g for ready meals. A further reduction of salt intake is warranted to comply with salt reduction targets.
Original languageEnglish
Article number1367
JournalNutrients
Volume10
Issue number10
Number of pages10
ISSN2072-6643
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Keywords

  • Sodium
  • Worksite canteen meals
  • Salt reduction strategies
  • Food and nutritional environment

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