Consumers snag too much salt when enjoying sausage in bread

There’s nothing more Aussie then a sausage in bread, but this quintessential snack could be putting our health at risk.

New research from The George Institute for Global Health, VicHealth and the Heart Foundation found a single sausage in white bread with tomato sauce contained nearly half the recommended daily salt intake (2.35 grams).

With Australians devouring 1.1 billion sausages a year equating to 1,500 tonnes of salt, Heart Foundation Victoria’s Sian Armstrong said the sodium content was worrying.

“It’s a massive concern that in almost a decade there’s been no change to the salt levels in sausages, the average Aussie eats 44 sausages a year totalling 16 teaspoons of salt,” Ms Armstrong said.

“Excess salt is directly linked to high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart attack, kidney disease and stroke. One of the best ways to keep your blood pressure down is by eating less salt.”

The report released as part of World Salt Awareness Week, analysed the salt content between 2010-2017 in more than 1000 of Australians’ favourite processed meats like sausages, ham and bacon from four major Australian supermarkets.

It found on average one sausage contained more than a quarter (28 per cent) of the recommended maximum daily salt intake; whereas 63 per cent of bacon products and 70 per cent of sliced ham products met the Food and Health Dialogue target of less than 2.7g of salt per 100g last year.

Ms Armstrong said this reduction shows manufacturers are able to make their meats less salty when required.

“Some sausages are three times saltier than others, we need targets to drive manufacturers to make sausages less salty and improve the health of the population.”

The greatest offender were Coles thin pork sausages at 2.9 grams of salt per 100 grams (80 per cent of recommended daily maximum daily salt intake) compared to the lowest recorded by Cleaver’s Organic Beef sausages at 0.94 grams per 100 grams.

The George Institute’s Clare Farrand said the findings were worrying considering how popular sausages are amongst Aussie families.

“Some sausages contained two grams of salt per serving – eat two sausages, and that’s almost an entire days’ worth of salt (80 per cent), before you’ve added any sauce or bread – in a single meal,” Ms Farrand said.

VicHealth chief executive officer Jerril Rechter said we needed to re-think what we put on the barbie.

“We understand that sausages can be a quick barbecue option but next time, why not try filling the hot plate with other healthier options like chicken or veggie skewers. Vegetables like mushrooms, onions, corn on the cob and eggplant work well too, and try to make sure you serve up some tasty salads to have on the side.

“Ultimately it shouldn’t be left totally up to the consumer to make healthy choices. We want to see manufacturers committing to reformulating their processed meats to have less salt – it can be done.”

For more information and low salt recipes, head to upackthesalt.com.au.