“Excessive salt levels” found in meat alternatives, says UK campaign group

23 Oct 2018 --- Campaign group Action on Salt (AoS) is urging the government to step up legislation on salt reduction after finding “excessive amounts” in some processed meat alternatives. A UK product survey reveals several meat-free products are far higher in salt than the recommended guidelines. And, Public Health England, the government agency responsible for the UK’s salt reduction program, admits “there is still a long way to go” on decreasing the nation’s salt intake.

Based at Queen Mary University London, Action on Salt claims that meat-free products, like alternative burgers, bacon-style rashers and sausages, often contain more salt than their real meat counterparts. These meat-free alternatives are often perceived by consumers to be a healthier alternative, according to AoS, but 28 percent of all products surveyed are higher in salt than the UK government's recommended salt targets.

High salt intakes contribute to high blood pressure, which can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, says the government, with approximately 75 percent of the salt consumed coming from processed foods.

The UK Government recommends adults and children aged 11 years and over should have no more than 6g of salt per day. 

The AoS survey also found meat-free burgers contain on average more salt than real meat burgers (0.75g/serve v 0.89g/serve). 

It mentions some meat-free products including Tofurky’s Deli Slices Hickory Smoked and Tesco’s Meat Free Bacon Style Rashers, which contain much more salt per 100g than seawater. Also, 20 percent of products have no front-of-pack color-coded labeling, including Linda McCartney’s entire product range. 

Of the 157 supermarket meat alternative products surveyed, the highest average salt content per 100g was found in meat-free bacon (2.03g/100g) and meat-free sliced meat (1.56g/100g). Per portion, on average vegetarian kievs were the saltiest (1.03g) – saltier than a large portion of McDonald’s fries – followed by meat-free sausages (0.96g) and plain meat-free pieces and fillets (0.87g) – as salty as three portions of salted peanuts. 

AoE says that these findings reaffirm how ineffective the UK’s voluntary salt targets are “due to complete lack of monitoring and guidance from Public Health England (PHE).”

In 2016, PHE assumed responsibility for the UK’s salt reduction program. However, two and a half years later there has been “little action, no progress report on the 2017 salt targets and no announcement of salt reduction plans for 2018 and beyond,” according to AoE. This is even though the UK’s salt intake is much higher than the recommended daily limit of 6g per day. Therefore, it is vital that PHE take urgent action to prevent further unnecessary deaths, stresses AoE.

“Our salt consumption has decreased over the last decade, but there is still a long way to go, as some foods still contain too much salt,” Professor Louis Levy, head of nutrition science at PHE, tells FoodIngredientsFirst. 

“Government has been clear with the food industry on the importance of meeting the 2017 salt targets. Since taking over salt reduction, PHE has been collecting data on industry’s progress and we’ll report later this year as planned.”

In May, AoS claimed cutting salt is not being given enough attention and urged the government to step up legislation in the same manner as it has done with sugar. The UK sugar tax came into effect in April. AoE wants PHE to enforce new laws to shake up reformulation of food products and cut down on salt content in a bid to prevent unnecessary deaths from stroke and heart disease. 

Those calls are once again being reiterated. 

AoS carried out a survey on vegetarian alternatives in 2008 and while the average salt content per 100g has decreased for both meat-free sausages and meat-free burgers, the average salt content per portion of meat-free burgers has increased from 0.80g to 0.89g, it says. 

Meat versus meat-free alternatives 
AoS’s survey of real beef burgers from retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda also finds that their average salt content per serving – 0.75g – was lower than that of meat-free burgers at 0.89g per serving.

In 2017, the salt content campaign group also highlighted that certain vegetarian sausages have as much salt as the saltiest meat sausages. Quorn’s 4 Best of British Sausages still remains one of the saltiest vegetarian sausages available, according to the findings. 

“Quorn produces a range of sausages, with its bestselling Quorn Sausages being low in salt and highlighted on the front of the pack. The salt content is 1.2g per 100g for 336g of Quorn frozen sausages and 1.1g per 100g for 250g Quorn chilled sausages, making both options a healthy source of protein,” a Quorn spokesperson tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

“Quorn’s Best of British Sausages offer slightly more indulgent sausages. While they are higher in salt, as clearly marked on the pack, they are still low in saturated fat. We review all our product recipes on an ongoing basis to ensure we are achieving what our consumers want in terms of taste and health credentials.”

Furthermore, 32 of the 154 (20 percent) products included in the survey had no front of pack color-coded labeling including Linda McCartney’s entire product range. 

Only three of all products surveyed were low in salt with 0.3g per 100g or less. Around a fifth (18 percent) of products also have no portion size, making it hard for consumers to judge how much of a product they should eat and gauge their daily salt intake.

“Research has highlighted that we must reduce the amount of meat we eat to reduce the negative impact of climate change. The food industry has ensured greater availability of meat-free alternatives, but now they must do more to ensure that meat-free alternatives contain far less salt – at the very least lower than their meat equivalents. This survey drives home the urgent need for Public Health England to reinvigorate the UK’s salt reduction strategy,” says Mhairi Brown, Nutritionist at AoS.

“Reducing salt is the most cost-effective measure to reduce the number of people dying or suffering from entirely unnecessary strokes and heart disease,” adds Graham MacGregor, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Queen Mary University of London and Chairman of AoS.

“Given the vast amounts of strokes and heart disease that could be avoided and huge savings to the NHS, it is incomprehensible that Public Health England is not doing more to reduce the amount of salt in our food. We are again calling on PHE to take urgent action.” 

The UK’s salt reduction program, devised by Action on Salt and the Food Standards Agency, slowly lowered the amount of salt added to foods without the consumer being aware, leading to a fall in population salt intake of 1.5g per day since 2003, according to AoS.

By Gaynor Selby