Food & Drink

Just a spoonful

New guidelines want you to limit your daily salt intake to a teaspoon (that's the one on the left). Try our measures to cut the sodium

By Kitty Crider
AMERICAN-STATESMAN FOOD EDITOR
Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Salt was thrown in our faces last week when the American Medical Association passed a policy recommendation that food manufacturers and restaurants reduce the sodium content of their products and meals by 50 percent over the next 10 years. Salt, it seems, has inundated our lives and might threaten our health.

"Cardiovascular disease remains the No. 1 killer of Americans. People who reduce dietary sodium intake are taking an important step in preventing future health problems," said association board member and practicing cardiologist J. James Rohack. Excess sodium greatly increases the chance of developing hypertension and heart disease and having a stroke, the AMA's Web site says, and research shows most Americans consume two to three times the amount of sodium that is healthy.

The national Food and Drug Administration guidelines call for 2,300-2,400 milligrams of sodium per day per 2,000 calories. But the average adult intake in the United States is estimated to be 4,000 milligrams of sodium. Of that consumption, an estimated 75 percent to 80 percent of the daily intake of sodium is coming from processed and restaurant foods, the targets of the medical association's action.

Whether the association is successful in getting the government and other health organizations behind their recommendation — and subsequently, persuading commercial food providers to reduce sodium — remains to be seen.

In the meantime, consumers can benefit from knowing how to navigate the salt minefields in their lives.

But it doesn't taste salty ...

A common one in Texas is chips and salsa. And salsa is usually the heavy in the relationship. Chips, however, taste saltier because the salt is on the outside. Compare the nutrition labels: A serving of chips averages 120 milligrams of sodium, says Alexa Sparkman, Austin registered dietitian. And, while salsas can vary, a serving (2 tablespoons) of Pace salsa contains 240 milligrams of sodium. 'And who stops with only 2 tablespoons?' she asks. 'I like a cup of salsa with my seven chips.'

Sparkman's practice: Make your own salsa without salt and eat with unsalted chips, widely available. Or select a lower-sodium salsa such as Arriba fire-roasted black bean and corn that is 125 milligrams per serving.

What other foods tend to be high in sodium?

Soups

Rotisserie chickens

Prepared foods

Frozen meat patties

Frozen dinners

Deli meats and cheeses

Pizza

Olives

Bloody Mary mixes

Pasta sauces

Soy sauce

Nuts

Rice mixes

Sausages, hot dogs

Find the sodium and cut it

Get in the habit of reading labels. If you think you don't have time, read about five labels per shopping trip on products you often purchase. Start with pasta sauces, where there is a vast range. Dean & DeLuca, for example, is 760 milligrams per half-cup; Prego Traditional, 580; Newman's Own, 510; Austin Slow Burn, 380; Blumetti's, 215.

Rotisserie chickens are a great convenience, but not sodium innocents. Half a chicken can have 1,000 milligrams of sodium or more. Read the label or ask the restaurant.

Try reduced-sodium bacons, deli-meats and cheeses.

Choose reduced-salt nuts such as Planters Healthy Heart mix (80 milligrams sodium for 2 tablespoons or 1 1/2 ounce) or buy dry unsalted nuts or raw nuts.

When ordering pizza, go easy on cheese. Skip pepperoni and other meats. Top with peppers, onions, mushrooms. Or choose a margherita pizza (tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil).

Dry mixes are often high in sodium. Dilute them for more portions. To Zatarain's gumbo mix, dietitian Sparkman adds more rice (1/4 cup), 2 cups okra, 1 to 2 cups more of water and the amount of seafood or chicken called for on the package.

Gulp ... that's salt you're drinking

'That salt on the rim of the margarita glass is not a good thing, in my opinion,' says Alexa Sparkman, Austin registered dietitian. If you have to have the flavor, sprinkle a pinch of salt on top of the drink, don't ring the rim . . . Read the labels on Bloody Mary mixes. Many are extremely high in sodium . . . Gatorade was designed for people exercising in heat, resulting in water and mineral loss. It contains 450 milligrams of sodium per liter. If you are drinking it just because you like the flavor, reconsider . . . Most soft drinks are not high in sodium (8 ounces of Coca-Cola Classic has 33 milligrams of sodium). . . Neither is water. According to the Austin Water Utility, an 8-ounce glass of our drinking water contains approximately 0.28 milligrams of sodium.

All about making good choices

Breakfast tacos tend to be salty. Probably the best choice, Sparkman says, is a filling of egg and potato, made fresh. Omit the salt and choose a lower-sodium salsa. No cheese. If you have to have bacon on the taco — or anything — limit yourself to one strip, crumble and scatter it on top to maximize flavor. Consider turkey bacon.

Fast-food places are often saltier than other restaurants. Some so-called healthier items on their menus such as a grilled chicken filet might have 1,000 milligrams of sodium where the fried filet might be 700-800 milligrams, Sparkman says. In replacing fat in foods, many places have added more sodium or sugar for flavor, she adds.

In fruit and vegetable selections, the less processed, the better in sodium content. Canned tomatoes tend to be high, but there are no-salt-added varieties widely available. One is Pomi chopped tomatoes, with a natural sodium content of 10 milligrams per 1/2 cup.

Finding low-sodium dishes when dining out is not easy. Sauces and other components of the menus are often prepared ahead and many restaurants cook generously with salt to bring out flavor. However, most restaurants that cook fresh should be able to accommodate a no-salt-added request. Mirabelle, Luby's and Shoreline Grill, for example, will prepare some salt-free dishes.

Go low-sodium shopping

If you need salt-savvy grocery shopping assistance, both Central Market North and Whole Foods Markets have checked labels and put together low-sodium lists of products in their stores. Whole Foods' lists can be found by clicking on "special diets" under "health info" at wholefoodsmarket.com. Central Market's list is at the information desk and a store employee will give a free tour, helping to identify products, if desired.

A salty tale in food history

In recent years, salt has been such a celebrated ingredient — with exotic colors and crystals from various sites and special boxes — that it might feel like a new discovery. Not so. The Salt Institute reminds us that in addition to being an essential element in the diet of humans and animals, salt is one of the most widely used and oldest preservatives (think Egyptian mummies) Salt also has served as currency or barter at various times and places in history. And it has been part of rituals from religious to social in many cultures. It might be trendy, but it's not new.

Use some salt sense

Common salt is sodium chloride (NaCl), used to flavor food. The current daily recommendation is 2,300-2,400 milligrams of sodium, about a teaspoon, (that's the first spoon below). That includes what is consumed in drinks, used in cooking and at the table. People with high blood pressure are advised to consume less. To assist consumers in their selections and manufacturers in their labeling, the government set sodium label guidelines. Here's what they mean:

Sodium-free: fewer than 5 milligrams of sodium per serving

Very low-sodium: 35 milligrams or fewer per serving

Low-sodium: 140 milligrams or less per serving

Reduced sodium: usual sodium level is reduced by 25 percent

Unsalted, no salt added or without added salt — made without the salt that's normally used, but still contains the sodium that's a natural part of the food itself

The Food and Drug Administration and United States Department of Agriculture currently state that a food that has the claim "healthy" must not exceed 360 milligrams sodium per reference amount. "Meal type" products must not exceed 480 milligrams sodium per reference amount.- The American Heart Association, American Medical Association

Sauce secret doesn't need to revolve around extra salt

A national reduced-sodium mandate would have less effect on Classy Delites, an Austin-based line of salsa, dips and chips, than many companies. Since its inception in 1994, the company has gone the natural, healthy route.

"We have always kept our sodium about half of what most products have," says Drew Westbrook, CEO. Seven of Classy Delites' 10 products are 160 milligrams or fewer of sodium per serving.

Many companies use fillers and thickeners that are bland and require sodium for flavor, Westbrook says. "But if you keep your product natural and use high-quality ingredients, you really don't need nearly as much sodium in there."

The company's best-selling Spinach Artichoke Dip is 120 milligrams per serving (2 tablespoons).

Salsas are more challenging, he says, because they generally require more sodium to get flavor. Classy Delites uses lime juice and other herbs to achieve that. Its Jamaican Salsa is 170 milligrams per serving, but its bean and corn Aztec Salsa is higher at 250 milligrams.

His products, which range from $4-$6 a jar, are carried in 1,000 stores nationwide, including Cost Plus World Market, Whole Foods Market, Central Market, Natural Gardener and Zinger Hardware in Austin.

Yes, chefs, there really is a way to cook with less

The Texas Culinary Academy teaches its 500-plus students that salt is not the only way to enhance flavor, says Marc Dunham, chef instructor at the facility's Ventana Restaurant in North Austin. 'We talk about salt in nutrition classes. And, in labs, we teach them to elevate flavor with herbs and acids.'

Dunham, who is also working on a nutrition degree at Texas State University, says when he began commercial cooking 10 years ago, he oversalted, like most students. 'I think you go through a learning curve of how to use salt.'

But he has found over the years that if you start with whole foods, you really don't need to add that much salt to achieve good flavor.

It is the fast-food restaurants and those using processed foods, as well as food manufacturers, that he thinks would be affected more by any new national salt-reduction policies.

'Of course, we would comply,' he says. But, in the meantime, he thinks many chefs will probably wait and see how it all settles out.

kcrider@statesman.com; 445-3656