Salt can find its way into the food you serve in a number of ways. It could be added to your recipes during cooking or preparation. It may already be in the ingredients or products that you are using. And, where the option exists, there is also a chance that it could be added to their meal by the customer themselves.
It’s easy to have too much salt (or sodium). Around three quarters of the salt we eat comes from packaged and everyday foods we buy, such as bread, breakfast cereals, meat products and ready meals. It can also be found in takeaways, restaurant or café meals and fast-food outlets.
NHS England
Did you know that adults should have no more than 6g of salt a day – roughly one level teaspoon’s worth? This includes salt that’s already in food and any salt added during and after cooking. Eating too much salt can cause high blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
The NHS Eat Well Guide states the maximum recommended salt intake as:
- No more than 6g of salt (around 1 teaspoon) or 2.4g of sodium (if labelled as such) for adults and children aged 11 years old and over
- No more than 5g of salt or 2g of sodium for children aged 7-10 years old
- No more than 3g of salt or 1.2g of sodium for children aged 4-6 years old
- No more than 2g of salt or 0.8g of sodium for children aged 1 to 3 years old
- Less than 1g of salt or 0.25g of sodium for infants under 1 year old
Babies should not have much salt at all as their kidneys are not fully developed and cannot process it.
How caterers can help: get salt smart
There are lots of ways that caterers can take action to reduce the levels of salt in the meals and products they are serving.
Inform yourself about ingredients and products on sale
Always look at the nutritional information to find out how much salt is in your ingredients and packaged retail products.
A product or ingredient is considered as being high in salt if it has more than 1.5g of salt (0.6g sodium) per 100g. It is considered low in salt with 0.3g of salt (0.1g sodium) or less per 100g. Some labels may only provide a value for sodium, rather than salt. You can work out the equivalent amount of salt in it by multiplying the total sodium by 2.5.
In the kitchen
With most salt coming from pre-made ingredients and products, making these yourself can help reduce salt levels. Try to aim for at least 50% of dishes being made from raw or unprocessed ingredients, which could include fruit and vegetables (fresh or frozen), canned pulses and sweetcorn (in water with no added salt), dried or canned fruit (without syrup), fresh and frozen meat (which could be diced or minced meat), and fresh and frozen dairy products (including ice-cream and yoghurt).
Instead of adding salt to recipes, try using other healthier flavourings such as herbs and spices, lemon juice or vinegar. If salt is still required, add it as sparingly as possible
Source lower salt alternatives of ingredients to use, such as lower-salt soy sauce, reduced salt baked beans, tinned fish and pulses in water instead of brine, or a low-salt stock.
Never add further salt if salty ingredients have been used, such as cooking sauces, stocks, bouillon, anchovies or brined meats.
On the table and at the counter
Consider not offering any saltshakers for customers to use (or at least removing these from tables). If saltshakers are made available, consider getting saltshakers with smaller and fewer holes, as this will help reduce the amount of salt customers add to their food once at the table.
For takeaways, keep any salt sachets behind the counter, requiring customers to specifically request these rather than providing them as standard.
Further resources to help you get salt smart
Follow these links for further information about how to reduce salt when cooking and the impacts that too much salt can have.
NHS Live Well Eat Well Guide – Salt in Your Diet
Action On Salt – Salt and Your Health
British Heart Foundation – low salt recipe inspiration
Resource created: November 2023
Photo by James Coleman on Unsplash.