YMCA Healthy Living Magazine, powered by n4 food and health SPRING 2019 | Page 11

ARNOTTS ® SALADA ORIGINAL
AVG QTY PER SERVING (2 BISCUITS 27.8g)
NUTRITION PER SERVING PER 100g
Energy 498KJ 1790KJ
Protein 2.9g 10.4g
Total Fat 2.8g 10.0g
Saturated 0.3g 1.2g
Carbohydrate 19.9g 71.5g
Sugar 0.1g 0.4g
Sodium 270mg 970mg
ARNOTTS Vita-Wheat 9 Grain
AVG QTY PER SERVING (4 BISCUITS 23.2g)
NUTRITION PER SERVING PER 100g
Energy 394KJ 1700KJ
Protein 2.8g 12.1g
Total Fat 2.2g 9.4g
Saturated 0.3g 1.1g
Carbohydrate 14.4g 61.9g
Sugar 0.4g 1.7g
Sodium 104mg 450mg
HERE ARE A FEW
EYE-OPENING EXAMPLES:
Breakfast cereal generally doesn’t taste salty, so
you might be surprised to find that a standard
serve of corn flakes (30g), contains the same
amount of sodium as 15 potato crisps.
Next, we give you a popular brand of pasta
sauce - in this case Dolmio ® - which will cost you
around 400mg of sodium per serve (or 20% of
your daily sodium budget).
Have you ever thought of sandwiches as salty?
Probably not, but two slices of regular bread can
contain between 300-500mg of sodium, which
is more than double the content of a standard
serve of Doritos® corn chips - and that’s before
you even add your filling!
3. Knowledge is power, so brush up on your label
reading skills, and make the smart choice. Here’s
how to read a food label:
Front of pack label: The following terms or claims can help us
determine the salt content of the food:
} } ‘NO ADDED SALT’ confirms a low salt food as there is no
added salt.
} } ‘LOW IN SALT’ refers to a sodium level of 120mg/100g or
less.
} } ‘SALT REDUCED’ refers to a sodium level of 400mg/100g
or less.
} } You can also refer to the Health Star Rating, which reflects
a number of nutritional considerations, including the salt
content of packaged foods.
Back of label: check the Nutrition Information Panel (NIP):
You’ll find the sodium content per 100g and per serve – this is
a mandatory nutrient that must be shown in the NIP.
Tip: The sodium level per 100g allows you to compare the
content of different products and choose the lower salt option.
The sodium content ‘per serve’ gives you an indication of how
much sodium you’ll get from a standard serve of this food.
The following tables illustrate the NIP and salt content of two
different dry biscuit options, and how reading labels can help
you halve your salt intake in this instance.
4. Check the ingredient list, and be savvy about
other ingredients that mean salt:
} }
} }
} }
} }
} }
Rock salt
Sea salt
Seasonings
Onion, garlic, celery or chicken salt
Baking powder and sodium bicarbonate
5. Swap this for that
Simple swaps can make a big difference to your sodium intake
at the end of the day. You can do this by reading labels and
choosing the lower salt alternative, and by choosing the lower
salt alternative when you’re eating away from home.
Make use of today’s technology, with apps such as Foodswitch ®
(available free in mobile app stores). Foodswitch ® makes it
easier to make the healthier choice between two products.
The ‘salt switch’ function allows you to scan the barcode of a
food product and find lower salt foods which are similar.
For example, if you were to look up Kelloggs® Corn Flakes
(550mg/100g salt), the salt switch options inform you that
Freedom Foods® Low Salt Corn Flakes are a much better
choice (210 mg/100g salt).
Head to unpackthesalt.com.au for lots of fabulous resources
like a downloadable wallet-sized label reading guides and ‘Salt
Swaps’ lists.
SPRING 2019 YMCA HEALTHY LIVING MAGAZINE
11