Burger buns found to have the highest level of sodium
What type of bread you eat has more salt? A first-of-itskind study on the salt content of bread in Dubai can now give you the answer. According to the study conducted by two experts from the Dubai Central Laboratory under Dubai Municipality, burger buns have the highest level of sodium among 163 samples of different types of breads collected for the study.
The categories of bread used for the study included white Arabic bread, brown Arabic bread, bran bread, rusk, toasted bread, frozen buns, burger buns, muffins, plain bread, bread rolls etc. Among these samples, the highest content of sodium was found in burger bun, followed by frozen bread, white bread and brown bread. The lowest sodium content was found in rusk and plain bread samples.
All the bread samples have met the GSO specification of salt content of up to 1.5 per cent of dry weight set by the GCC Standardisation Organisation.
However, this limit is considered relatively high when compared with the specifications of other countries, the experts who conducted the study said yesterday.
The study was conducted by two experts –Iftekhar Ahmad Mohammad and Baheiya Mohammad –from the Food Chemical Analysis Unit of Dubai Central Laboratory (DCL) under Dubai Municipality.
Their study was presented at the 11th Dubai International Food Safety Conference that concluded yesterday.
Iftekhar Ahmad Mohammad, principal food chemical analyst, told Gulf News that the study was conducted following a request from the Food Safety Department which has been pushing bakeries in Dubai to reduce the salt content in breads. The department had launched a campaign urging bakeries in hypermarkets to reduce the sodium level in bread and other in-house products to encourage healthy food habits among the residents.
Bread is the single biggest contributor of salt to our daily diet. It is estimated that 34 per cent of salt consumed daily comes from bread. High salt diets result in high blood pressure leading to an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.