Salt content of sauces in the UK and China: cross-sectional surveys

OBJECTIVES: (1) To assess the changes in the salt content of sauces in the UK in the past 10 years; (2) to compare the salt content of sauces in China with equivalent products sold in the UK and (3) to calculate the proportion of sauce products meeting the salt targets set by the UK Department of Health (DoH). DESIGN: Cross-sectional surveys from the nutrition information panels of sauces. SETTING: Major retailers in London, Beijing and Shijiazhuang operating at data collection times. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Salt content of sauces. RESULTS: Relative change in the median salt content of UK products ranged from −70.6% to +3.0% in sauces for which salt targets were set, whereas it ranged from −27.1% to +111.5% in sauces without targets. Median salt contents were on average 4.4-fold greater in Chinese sauces compared with their UK equivalents surveyed during the same period (2015–2017). Only 13.4% of the Chinese products met the UK 2017 salt targets, compared with 70.0% of UK products. CONCLUSION: In the UK, the target-based approach contributed to the reduction in the salt content of sauces over the course of the past 10 years. Currently, large variations in salt content exist within the same categories of sauces and 70% of the products have met DoH’s 2017 targets, demonstrating that further reductions are possible and lower salt targets should be set. In China, salt content of sauces is extremely high with similarly large variations within same categories of sauces, demonstrating the feasibility of reducing their salt content. As processed foods (including sauces) are expected to become an important contributor to salt intake in China, national salt reduction efforts such as setting salt targets would be a valuable, proactive strategy.