{"id":10607,"date":"2026-01-07T13:30:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T14:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/?p=10607"},"modified":"2026-01-07T21:33:31","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T21:33:31","slug":"brits-daily-salt-intake-equals-22-bags-of-crisps-these-foods-are-the-surprise-culprits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/brits-daily-salt-intake-equals-22-bags-of-crisps-these-foods-are-the-surprise-culprits\/","title":{"rendered":"Brits\u2019 daily salt intake equals 22 bags of crisps \u2014 these foods are the surprise culprits"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"Brits'\t<\/div>
It spells bad news for our blood pressure (Picture: Bogdan Malizkiy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as tearing open a packet of crisps<\/a> and savouring every last bite.<\/p>\n

But if you think the odd treat won’t make a difference to your health, you’re sorely mistaken, because it turns out Brits’ salt intake<\/a> is already through the roof.<\/p>\n

In fact, a recent British Heart Foundation (BHF) study revealed we’re munching the equivalent of 155 packets of crisps<\/a> a week thanks to the amount of sodium that’s in our food.<\/p>\n

To put this into context, it’s effectively like eating 22 packs of ready salted every single day.<\/p>\n

According to the research, working-age adults in England<\/a> consume an average of 58.8g of salt each week \u2014 40% more than the recommended maximum of 42g, which in snack term is roughly six more packets of ready salted crisps than the UK national guideline. <\/p>\n

But if we adhered to the World Health Organisation<\/a>’s recommended limit of less than 5g per day (35g per week), it would be even worse.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Potato\t<\/div>
It turns out we’re eating the equivalent to a whole load of crisps (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The culprits<\/h2>\n

Despite excess salt being such a problem for our health, 56% of Brits aren’t confident in estimating their daily intake, according to the BHF and YouGov poll.<\/p>\n

And one likely reason for this is that we aren’t sure where sodium is lurking.<\/p>\n

‘Most of the salt we eat is hidden in the food we buy, such as bread<\/a>, cereals<\/a>, pre-made sauces and ready meals<\/a>, so it\u2019s often hard to know exactly how much salt we\u2019re consuming,’ commented dietitian Dell Stanford.<\/p>\n

Action on Salt’s<\/a> 2023 ‘bread report’ found 75% of sliced breads at supermarkets<\/a> contained at least as much salt per slice<\/em> as a packet of ready salted crisps.<\/p>\n

What’s more, 11% of surveyed products exceeded the maximum salt reduction target for breads and rolls.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"Healthy\t<\/div>
Healthy bread made from wholemeal flour, yeast, water.The healthy eating and traditional bakery concept (Credits: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The same organisation also examined 334 breakfast cereals \u2013 including brands like Special K, All Bran, Golden Grahams, Cheerios, Shreddies, and various own-brand options \u2013 on sale in the UK, finding 35% contained more salt per serving than a bag of ready salted.<\/p>\n

Ready meals were even worse, with Action on Salt saying 56% proved to be high in salt, according to the government’s colour-coded labelling criteria.<\/p>\n

Researchers identified all ready meals produced by Wasabi, Jamie Oliver<\/a>, and Kitchen Joy as high in salt, along with 91% of those by Charlie Bigham\u2019s and 89% from Royal and Saputo Dairy UK, as of May 2025.<\/p>\n

Why is too much salt bad for us?<\/h2>\n

While 32% of Brits don’t know the maximum amount of salt they should be eating, it’s worth getting familiar with, as the BHF warns that eating too much of it can cause high blood pressure, a problem linked to half of all heart attacks and strokes.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\"TV\t<\/div>
A ready meal – in this case, a chicken curry – in the microwave at home. (Credits: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This happens because extra water is drawn into our bloodstream, which is responsible for the increase in pressure.<\/p>\n

Otherwise known as hypertension, a high blood pressure<\/a> reading is typically anything over 140\/90 when checked by a healthcare professional.<\/p>\n

If you’re checking yourself at home, a high blood pressure reading is considered to be 135\/85, according to the NHS.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tDid you know?\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
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Reducing the UK’s average salt intake to less than 5g by 2030 could actually prevent up to 135,000 new cases of coronary heart disease over 14 years.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Hypertension puts extra stain on your blood vessels, heart and other organs, sometimes resulting in heart disease, heart failure, kidney disease, and vascular dementia – all serious and potentially life-threatening conditions.<\/p>\n

It’s a big problem, given 30% of UK adults suffer with high blood pressure, and five million don’t even know they have it.<\/p>\n

Following its latest findings, the charity<\/a> is calling on the government to ensure its upcoming Healthy Food Standard \u2013 an initiative aimed at reducing obesity \u2013 includes mandatory targets that incentivise food companies to reduce salt levels in their products.<\/p>\n

‘The Government must step in to make the healthy choice much easier for families by giving manufacturers an incentive to take out excessive amounts of salt from our food,’ dietitian Dell adds.<\/p>\n

Do you have a story to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n


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Comment now<\/title><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-comments__label\">Comments<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t<\/a><a class=\"metro-button share-bar-preferred-source\" data-vars-position=\"bottom\" href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/metro.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span><title>Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/a><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It spells bad news for our blood pressure (Picture: Bogdan Malizkiy) There’s nothing quite as satisfying as tearing open a packet of crisps and savouring every last bite. But if you think the odd treat won’t make a difference to your health, you’re sorely mistaken, because it turns out Brits’ salt intake is already through […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10607"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10607"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10614,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10607\/revisions\/10614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}