Sara Lee Corporation announced late last week that it plans a sodium reduction in many of its products over the course of the next five years. The reduction is in “key categories” of fresh bread, hot dogs, lunchmeat, breakfast foods and cooked sausage. Brands included in the initiative are  Jimmy Dean, Ball Park, Hillshire Farm, and Sara Lee.

What you need to know:

This is good news. Sort of.

It would have been better if the reduction would become effective immediately and not planned for such a long term. Right now the press release is more about marketing than nutrition. Sara Lee would gain much more credibility if it announced the reductions as they were being executed, not in advance.

We Americans are consuming way too much salt in our diet.While the daily maximum is 2300 mg of sodium (5 grams of salt, the equivalent of a teaspoon) the average consumption is over 3,500 mg. Excess salt intake results in high blood pressure, hypertension and additional health risks.

over 70% of the salt we consume comes from processed foods. In many cases, the sodium comes in surprising places. Bread products, Cereals, and even sweet snacks contain high levels of salt.

Take Sara Lee’s Plain Bagel. It contains 590 mg of sodium – more than 25% of the recommended daily maximum. And this is before the lox, eggs, or cheeses!

What to do at the supermarket:

We could all do with less sodium. Look at products’ nutrition facts panel where sodium content is mandated both in milligrams and percent of daily value. Grains will always contain some levels of salt but choose those with lower numbers. Many manufacturers are reformulating their products to reduce sodium levels, so it makes sense to compare similar products and choose the one with the lowest count.

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A) Strawberry ice cream

B) Chicken

C) Plastic foam

D) None of the above

Answer below

Read more…

1. Sodium Nitrite and its closely related Sodium Nitrate are food preservatives used primarily in prepared meat and fish such as ham, bacon, hot dogs, corned beef (spam), luncheon meats, and smoked fish.

2. Sodium Nitrite helps preserve the pink / red color of the meat which should have been grayish having been precooked. It also adds a characteristic flavor.

3. It also wards off against clostridium botulinum, the bacteria responsible for botulism, a dangerous disease causing respiratory and muscular paralysis.

4. Unfortunately, when cooked or broken down in the stomach, nitrites form nitrosamines (also called N-Nitroso Compund), which can cause cancer in young children and pregnant women.

5. Adding ascorbic acid (vitamin C) to the food product greatly reduces the formation of nitrosamines

6. USDA Meat Inspection Regulations have limited the use of nitrite to 200 ppm.

7. Spinach, beets, lettuce, celery, parsley, and cabbages are among vegetables with high concentrations of nitrates. The amount is determined by the plant’s genetics, age, and the amount of nitrate in the soile which have shot up because of increased use of nitrate fertilizers. But don’t stop eating these veggies, many of them also contain vitamin C, naturally limiting the formation of the toxic nitrosamines.

What you need to know:

While botulism is dangerous and nasty it is also very rare, therefore using botulism prevention as a reason to pump meats with nitrites is not acceptable. Proper refrigeration reduce the risk of clostridium botulinum bacteria as well. While the amount of nitrates has been reduced substantially over the years, why not get rid of them completely?

What to do at the supermarket:

Check the ingredient label next time you buy some deli style meats. If you want to avoid nitrates, your chances are higher with organic products.

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