The Study
Top Sodium Food Sources in the American Diet—Using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
This study found out which foods in America have the most salt, like pizza and bread, by asking people what they ate in one day. It doesn’t prove that eating those foods makes people sick — it just shows they’re the saltiest things people eat.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at what foods Americans eat that have the most salt, and found a few big ones that add up to half of all the salt we eat.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 543 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — eating just one serving of burritos or tacos can give you more than half your daily salt limit, and these top 15 foods are responsible for half of all salt intake.
- 2Pizza: 5.3% of salt; breads/rolls: 4.7%; cold cuts: 4.6%; soups: 4.4%; burritos/tacos: 4.3%; chicken nuggets: 1.5% but have the least salt per serving (167 mg).
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Nutrients
Year
2023
Authors
Mavra Ahmed, A. Ng, Anthea K. Christoforou, C. Mulligan, M. L’Abbé
Related Content
Claims (4)
People of different races, ethnicities, and income levels all get most of their salt from the same top 15 foods, so one simple rule to cut salt can work for everyone without needing different recipes for different groups.
Just 15 types of foods are responsible for more than half the salt Americans eat, and this is true no matter how old you are, what gender or race you are, or how much money you make — so cutting salt from these foods could help everyone.
Bread and veggies make up most of the salt we eat because we eat so much of them, but cold cuts and soup have way more salt in each bite — so to cut down on salt, we need to fix both how much we eat and how salty the food is.
In the U.S., five common foods—pizza, bread, deli meats, soup, and tacos/burritos—add up to more than one-fifth of all the salt people eat, and each one alone adds about 4-5% of that salt. That’s why health experts think cutting salt in these foods could help everyone eat less sodium.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.