News Breif: 90% of US adults consume too much salt, main culprit is ... BREAD

Nine out of ten US adults exceed the daily recommended salt intake, and the main culprit is not potato chips or popcorn, but sliced bread and rolls, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced, local media report today (full Chinese-language article here) in a translation of a Reuters' report from yesterday (full English original article here).

The CDC said that 44% of salt consumed comes from 10 food types, with bread and rolls worst, followed by cold cuts and cured meats, pizza, poultry, soups, sandwiches, cheese, pasta dishes, meat dishes and snacks including chips.

rolls lead the list followed by cold cuts and cured meat, pizza, poultry, soups, sandwiches, cheese, pasta dishes, meat dishes and snacks such as pretzels and potato chips.

A single slice of white bread could contain as many as 230 milligrams of salt.

High salt intake can raise blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease and strokes.

The average American consumes 3,266 milligrams of salt daily, not counting salt added at the table, which is far above the recommended 2,300 milligrams, the CDC said.

For six out of 10 Americans, including those who are over age 51 or have high blood pressure or diabetes, 1,500 milligrams is the recommended daily salt limit.

Even foods that seem healthy such as cottage cheese may be high in salt, the agency reported. Even raw chicken and pork is often injected with salt.

The CDC recommended eating more fruits and vegetables and carefully reading the labels on food products to find those with the lowest salt content.

One in three American adults has high blood pressure.

Most adults eat or drink about twice the amount of sodium as is recommended, and most of that extra sodium comes from common grocery store and restaurant items and a very small proportion from the salt shaker at the table..

Salt per calorie of food consumed was much higher at restaurants than from store-bought food, the CDC said.

"While progress is being made, reducing sodium in products without affecting the taste or consumer acceptance of products is no easy task," the Grocery Manufacturer's Association said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

Feature: Bread in any language --Photo

While in Hengchun, i passed this bakery.
It doesn't say "bread" in English, but in Japanese, Taiwanese, Chinese and, I suppose, sort of in Portuguese. (Another Portuguese word to make it to Taiwan via Japan is tempura -->天婦羅 -->甜不辣)




                                                                                     Text and photos © Jiyue Publications 2011

News Brief: Wholemeal bread not always high fiber

Wholemeal bread does not necessarily equate with high fibre, the Consumers’ Foundation (消基會) announced yesterday, and often contained more fat, according to a front-page report in the Liberty Times (Chinese language article here)

With its claims to high fibre and low calories, wholemeal bread has become popular with Taiwan’s consumers, the foundation said. But a survey of bread retailers, grain stores and convenience stores in the greater Taipei area since July this year showed that this ingrained impression is not necessarily true, and sometimes oil added to increase bread’s flavour and fragrance mean they can be high fat rather than high fibre.

Fat levels of 20 samples ranged from 0.2 percent to 9 percent. Of these, the French handmade bread (法蘭西手工全麥大圓) sold by Carrefour had the lowest fat content, while the “wholemeal toast” (全麥吐司) sold by Yjysheng (一之軒) had high fat content. Eating 200g (2 or 3 slices) of this latter contained the equivalent of three teaspoons of oil, which the foundation claimed represented around half of the daily fat allowance as recommended by Taiwan’s Department of Health (衛生署).

With dietary fibre content of 3 percent to 7 percent, wholemeal bread can help reduce cholesterol, promote intestinal peristalis and reduce excessive appetite. The Foundation discovered that Mr. Mark Bakery Co.’s (馬可先生) rye and mixed grain bread (黑麥雜糧麵包) and Taiwan Yamazaki’s (台灣山崎) wholemeal toast (全麥吐司) had dietary fibre content between 6 percent and 7 percent, whereas the above-mentioned French handmade bread from Carrefour had dietary fibre only slightly higher than regular white bread, at around 3 percent to 4 percent.

The foundation said that 200g of mixed grain bread could provide up to 8-14 g of dietary fibre, representing up to half of the DOH recommended daily value of 20-30 g, compared to just 6-7g by eating 200g of white bread.






                                                              Text and photos © Jiyue Publications 2011