As much salt sandwiched into one slice of bread as a pack of crisps

One in four loaves of bread contain as much salt per slice as a packet of crisps, research has found.

Campaign group Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) surveyed the salt content of 294 fresh and packaged loaves from supermarkets and their in-store bakeries – as well as chain and independent high street stores – and found many were packed with hidden salt.

It found 28 per cent of loaves surveyed contained as much salt, or more, per slice than the average packet of crisps, which has 0.5g of salt.

CASH called for clearer labelling on bread from in-store supermarket and high street bakeries, which often have no nutritional labelling, making it impossible for consumers to know how much salt they are consuming.

It also found that as well as being unlabelled, some high street chains’ bread contained more than three times as much salt per 100g than bread baked in supermarkets.

The findings come after previous research revealed that bread is the largest contributor of salt to the diet, providing almost a fifth (18 per cent) of our current daily salt intake.

Current salt intake among adults in the UK is 8.6g – above the maximum daily recommendation of 6g.

CASH campaign director Katharine Jenner said: “Most people wouldn’t realise that bread contains so much salt, as it doesn’t taste salty.

“It is scandalous that there is no labelling on fresh bread. Without it, how are we supposed to know where salt is hidden and cut our intake to less than 6g a day?”

CASH found when it came to packaged breads, the standard packaged loaf with the highest salt was Cranks Seeded Farmhouse at 2.03g per 100g, which contained nearly four times more salt than the lowest – a Marks & Spencer’s Simply More Eat Well Healthiest White Bread (0.58g/100g).

It said speciality breads, such as rye bread, were often perceived as healthier but could be high in salt.

CASH chairman Professor Graham MacGregor said: “It is the very high levels of salt that is hidden in everyday food, such as bread, that puts up both adults’ and children’s blood pressure.

“If all manufacturers went beyond these targets and cut the salt in their breads by a half, it would reduce our salt intakes by half a gram per day, which is predicted to prevent over 3,000 deaths from strokes and heart attacks a year.”

CASH said it was pleased to see that, although they are still too high, salt levels in bread have come down by 30 per cent in the past ten years.

Director of the Federation of Bakers Gordon Polson said they welcomed the investigation and the fact it recognised the efforts made by the industry to reduce salt levels.

He said: “In fact the majority of wrapped, sliced bread available already meets the 2012 targets and our members are continuing to endeavour to reduce salt by contributing to ongoing research to establish which other means are available to reduce salt in bread.

“The vast majority of breads singled out in the CASH report as higher in salt are not the mainstream products produced by our members, which do produce around 80 per cent of the nation’s bread in a £3 billion industry.

“Our advice to consumers is to always read the label to ensure they know what they are buying and consuming.”