Salt: the hidden peril

High-salt foods and snacks laden with fat and sugar could cut the lifespan of our children, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) warned this weekend.

Manufacturers and supermarkets are being told to set a target date for cutting salt in their products, and the FSA is proposing a ban on all advertising of salty, fatty or sugary foods to pre-school children.

But for now, it's still all too easy to overdose on salt without realising it.

The Government's Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition says a safe maximum for salt-intake is about 6g per day, which is about a teaspoon. But on average we eat 9-12g daily, and 80 per cent is smuggled in processed foods, such as ready-meals, sandwiches, soups, sauces and pizzas.

Small amounts of sodium - the chemical element that makes up 40 per cent of salt - are essential for the transmission of nerve impulses, the contraction of muscles and to maintain the body's fluid balance.

But excessive amounts of salt over several years can culminate in high blood pressure, which is linked to heart attacks and strokes.

According to the campaigning group CASH (Consensus Action on Salt and Health), a 3g reduction in UK salt intake - from 9g to 6g - would lead to 22 per cent fewer strokes and a 16 per cent reduction in heart disease - saving 35,000 deaths a year and preventing 70,000 nonfatal strokes and heart attacks.

Too much salt has also been linked with osteoporosis, stomach cancer and asthma. And if you eat the standard amount of salt in the British diet, experts estimate you are probably carrying two to three more pounds than you need - because salt causes us to hold on to excess water.

Here, we show how frighteningly easy it is to get your recommended teaspoon of salt from just one of your three daily meals. Plus we give tips on how to reduce the amount you eat.

Breakfast

Large bowl (40g) of corn flakes: 2g salt Two slices of toast with butter and Marmite: 2.2g salt Croissant: 0.9g salt Total: 5.1g salt
Corn flakes are the saltiest cereals - depending on how big a bowl you pour, you'll get between a fifth and a third of your recommended daily salt limit. Team that with bread (0.9g salt per two slices), butter (0.3g salt) and Marmite (1g) and you already have 4.4g salt.

Bakery products, even sweet ones, can also have quite surprising amounts of salt - adding a croissant would take you to 5.1g, the daily allowance for a woman.

Hold the salt: Swap the corn flakes for sugar- and salt-free muesli, go for a lower-salt bread such as Warburtons Healthy and use salt-free butter or Flora Low Salt. Try honey, or spread Marmite sparingly.

Save: 2.7g salt

3 rashers Sainsbury's outdoorreared back bacon: 4.7g salt 2 eggs, scrambled: 1.1g salt Total: 5.8g salt
Traditionally cured bacon is extremely salty. Have it with scrambled egg (to which you will add on average about a fifth of a teaspoon of salt), and you'll reach your daily teaspoon in one go.

Hold the salt: Look for lower-salt bacon varieties, for example Danepak Low and Lean with about 2.5g salt per 100g compared with 5g salt per 100g in other varieties. Add black pepper to your scrambled egg instead of salt.

Save: 2.9g salt

Lunches

Boots penne pasta salad with honey-and-mustard chicken: 6g salt Some seemingly healthy pasta salads can contain extraordinarily high amounts of salt, so check the labels before you buy.

Hold the salt: Make your own pasta salad without adding salt, eg pasta twirls mixed with chicken, broccoli and pesto.

Save: 4.2g salt

BLT sandwich: 5.8g salt Bag of crisps: 0.5g salt Total: 6.3g salt
You might expect the saltiest thing to be the crisps, but it's not. Lunchtime sandwiches are some of the worst offenders, and BLTs and sausage sandwiches are among the worst.

Hold the salt: Go for a chickensalad sandwich without mayonnaise, which will generally be a lot less salty. Buy Salt 'n' Shake crisps and don't add the blue bag of salt.

Save: 3.8g salt

Small sushi pack: 3.3g salt Heinz Microwaveable Chicken Soup in a cup: 2.5g salt Total: 5.8g
Sushi may be healthy in other respects, but it isn't low in salt, so go easy. Team with a bowl of soup (all types are salty, even vegetable) and you're up to your daily limit.

Hold the salt: It's virtually impossible to have low-salt supermarket versions of these two, so if you're eating them for lunch, you need to moderate the salt in other areas of your diet. However, you can make home-made soup and season it with herbs and pepper.

Save (with homemade salt-free soup): 2.5g salt

Dinners

Marks and Spencer Chicken Biriyani (400g pack): 4g salt 1 naan bread: 1.9g salt Total 5.9g
Most ready-meals are salt traps, and curries are among the worst. Add in naan bread with on average nearly 2g salt, and that's almost 6g salt.

Hold the salt: Buy a ready-meal curry (eg chicken Madras) but boil your own rice and don't add salt. And swap the naan for popadums.

Save: 3.3g salt

Spinach-and-ricotta tortelloni:
1.5g salt Puttanesca sauce: 2g salt Serving of cheese-and-garlic bread: 1.5g salt Total: 5g salt Pasta and sauce sounds healthy, but it can be salty if you choose a filled pasta (ham types may be particularly bad). Also watch for sauces containing ham or anchovy.

Hold the salt: Choose plain not filled pasta and switch to a less salty sauce such as tomato and basil. If you can't resist garlic bread, go for it without the cheese as this bumps up the salt content.

Save: 3g salt

Goodfellas Deep Pan Ham and PIneapple (nine-inch): 7g salt
Just one nine inch pizza will usually take you beyond your daily salt limit, with cheesy and ham toppings being the worst offenders.

Hold the salt: Search for lower-salt versions, which are usually in the healthy-eating range - for example Sainsbury's Be Good To Yourself Cajun Chicken Pizza, which has just 2.2g salt per pizza.

Save: 4.8g salt