Though bringing about a change in the nutritional profile of food with reduced amount of salt is easy, yet it is difficult to impart quality to those foods with a slash for salt. To perplex the consumer further a recent study files out top 10 foods, tagged salty calling for a reduction for salt in those foods. In an attempt to make things easy, we need to determine the amount of salt that we are consuming in the following ten foods:
1. Smoked and cured Meats – It is a myth that smoked meats contain high amount of fats and salt. On the contrary, meats are smoked to reduce the fat content in the meats and curing is followed by clearing the meat in water to get rid of excessive salts from the meat.
2. Fish – Though brining fish uniformly salts fish, yet the consumers can go for smoked fish. Brining is followed by rinsing of fish that washes down the salt and then it is hung to smoke the fish.
3. Stocks – I completely disagree with the fact that stocks contain salts. Most of the gourmands prefer preparing fresh stocks with natural ingredients and meat rather than seasoning cubes.
4. Salted Snacks – This part of foodstuff deserves a click not only for the high amount of sodium but also Trans fats.
5. Pickles – Pickles are no doubt high in salt, but salt is an important preservative in this case and pickle manufacturers cannot afford to go low on that.
6. Salad Dressings – Salad dressings again like stocks and meat extracts can be made at home. However, salad dressings need not have so much salt due to the presence of herbs, essential oils and condiments.
7. Sauces – Well there is no need to be afraid of sauces made at home and as far as soy sauce is concerned, you are not munching sushi every time.
8. Processed Foods – Packaged foods contain high sodium but again it is to increase their shelf life. However, the consumers have a choice to poach the foods before cooking. Removal of excess salts is required if eating processed foods instead of fresh foods is becoming a habit.
9. Canned Soup – This is one liquid where you cannot reduce salt.
10. Cheese – Processed cheese again contains high sodium, but home made cheese and low-sodium ones can be a better deal.
