Food Standards Agency survey shows salt levels vary considerably in soup

Thursday 16 December 2004

Ref: 2004/0548

A new survey of soups released today by the Food Standards Agency shows that salt levels vary significantly in this kitchen cupboard favourite. Many soups contained as much as a third of the recommended maximum daily intake for an adult per serving, while some contained as much as half.

The survey looked at the salt content in the canned, fresh/chilled and dried soup categories and revealed that not only is there wide variation within each category but there is also wide variation within each flavour. The dried soup category ranged from 1.2g to 2.9g of salt per serving, while two brands of canned mushroom soup contained twice the amount of salt of another canned mushroom brand. No brand was consistently high or low in salt.

The recommended maximum daily intake for salt is 6g, and on average adults are currently exceeding this by 3.5g. The Agency launched a public health campaign in September 2004 to highlight the risk of eating too much salt and the increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.

The Agency is currently working with industry to reduce salt in processed foods which include soups.

Gill Fine, Director of Consumer Choice and Dietary Health, Food Standards Agency said:
'The results show a considerable variation in the level of salt in soups. We welcome the commitment that some manufacturers and retailers have made to reduce salt content in soups but the fact that such a popular and convenient food can provide more than a third of the daily salt limit shows that continued effort in this area is still needed.'

Soup Survey Results
This survey is part of the Agency's regular programme of surveys looking at the salt content of a wide variety of everyday foods.

Seventy seven soups were surveyed in November 2004, purchased from retailers in London and the South East. The survey included canned, fresh/chilled and dried soup varieties of both the top sellers in each category and a range of retailers' own brands.

For making comparisons, a standard portion size of 200g was used for all the soups surveyed. The survey covered the following flavour variants: vegetable, tomato, chicken and beef/oxtail canned soup and also included the sugar and fat content of the products from the labels.

The tables below also show what the salt content of a child serving (100g) would mean as a percentage of the daily salt intake recommended for a child aged between 4 and 6 years, which is 3g.

The full results and report can be found from the links at the foot of this page.

CANNED/AMBIENT SOUP
PRODUCT	SALT PER 200G PORTION (ADULT SERVING) Data to one decimal place	% OF THE 6G DAILY SALT INTAKE AS RECOMMENDED FOR AN ADULT	SALT PER 100G PORTION (CHILD SERVING) Data to one decimal place	% OF THE 3G DAILY SALT INTAKE AS RECOMMENDED FOR A CHILD AGED 4-6
HIGHEST SALT CONTENT
Somerfield cream of tomato	2.5g	42%	1.3g	42%
Le Chef (Lidl) cream of tomato	2.5g	42%	1.3g	42%
SECOND HIGHEST SALT CONTENT
Sainsbury's low price cream of tomato soup with sugar and sweetener	2.1g	35%	1.1g	35%
Tesco cream of chicken soup	2.1g	35%	1.1g	35%
LOWEST SALT CONTENT
Asda cream of mushroom soup	1.0g	17%	0.5g	17%
SECOND LOWEST SALT CONTENT
Marks & Spencer chunky winter vegetable soup	1.2g	20%	0.6g	20%
Heinz Big Soup chunky vegetable soup	1.2g	20%	0.6g	20%

FRESH/CHILLED SOUP
PRODUCT	SALT PER 200G PORTION (ADULT SERVING) Data to one decimal place	% OF THE 6G DAILY SALT INTAKE AS RECOMMENDED FOR AN ADULT	SALT PER 100G PORTION (CHILD SERVING) Data to one decimal place	% OF THE 3G DAILY SALT INTAKE AS RECOMMENDED FOR A CHILD AGED 4-6
Tesco fresh minestrone soup	2.0g	33%	1.0g	33%
Tesco fresh tomato and basil soup	2.0g	33%	1.0g	33%
New Covent Garden Food Company fresh carrot and coriander soup	2.0g	33%	1.0g	33%
SECOND HIGHEST SALT CONTENT
Sainsbury's fresh mushroom soup	1.6g	27%	0.8g	27%
LOWEST SALT CONTENT
New Covent Garden Company fresh chicken soup	1.0g	17%	0.5g	17%
SECOND LOWEST CONTENT
Marks & Spencer fresh mushroom soup	1.2g	20%	0.6g	20%

DRIED SOUP
PRODUCT	SALT PER 200G PORTION (ADULT SERVING) Data to one decimal place	% OF THE 6G DAILY SALT INTAKE AS RECOMMENDED FOR AN ADULT	SALT PER 100G PORTION (CHILD SERVING) Data to one decimal place	% OF THE 3G DAILY SALT INTAKE AS RECOMMENDED FOR A CHILD AGED 4-6
Batchelors Cup a Soup minestrone with croutons	2.9g	49%	1.5g	49%
SECOND HIGHEST SALT CONTENT
Batchelors Cup a Soup tomato	2.4g	40%	1.2g	40%
LOWEST SALT CONTENT
Asda Good For You, farmhouse vegetable cup soup	1.2g	19%	0.6g	19%
SECOND LOWEST SALT CONTENT
Batchelors Cup a Soup, thick and rich woodland mushroom	1.3g	21% *	0.7g	21%
Tesco Soup in a Mug, mushroom	1.3g	22%*	0.7g	22%

* Batchelors Cup a Soup, thick and rich woodland mushroom, has a salt content of 1.266g/200g while Tesco Soup in a Mug, mushroom flavour, has a salt content of 1.327g/200g. For the purpose of this table the salt content has therefore been rounded to 1.3g but the actual percentage contribution to the daily salt intake is 21% and 22% respectively.