HOW EASY IT IS TO EXCEED SALT LIMIT

2 RICHMOND SAUSAGES 2.2g salt

SAUSAGES can be heavily seasoned, with extra salt from the preservative — just two of these sausages contain a third of your daily limit, and 40 per cent of your saturated fat limit, a double-whammy for your heart. Some (e.g. Sainsbury’s Butcher’s Choice Pork Sausages) are less salty, so check the labels.

1 OXO VEGETABLE STOCK CUBE 2g salt

AN AVERAGE stock cube — vegetable ones, too — contains a third of a teaspoon of salt, a third of your daily maximum. Make salt-free homemade stock by covering a pot full of celery, carrots and onion scraps with water, adding a large handful of fresh herbs and then slowly simmering for an hour before straining.

STARBUCKS SMOKED SALMON BAGEL 2g salt

ALL smoked fish is notoriously salty — there’s typically around 1.6g in the 50g you’d have in a bagel. The rest comes from the bagel bread and the cream cheese. Nevertheless, you’ll get some heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids from the salmon.

4 SLICES WARBURTONS WHOLEMEAL TOAST 1.9g salt

BREAD is an example of a food that has salt — sometimes a lot of it — but which has other benefits, such as fibre, so choose carefully. Four slices of this bread contain a third of your daily salt, so for sandwiches with salty fillings (e.g. cheese or ham), use two (thinner) slices to keep the salt down.

400g TESCO CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA & RICE 2g salt

NO SURPRISE here: ready meals — particularly curries and pizzas — are well known to be some of the saltiest foods. A home-made curry might be no better. If a recipe for two calls for 1 tsp salt, you’ll consume as much per portion in a homemade version as in this supermarket one.

60g WAITROSE ANCHOVY-STUFFED OLIVES 2.1g salt

BRINING olives to cure them and reduce bitterness makes them quite salty, plus these are stuffed with anchovies, so 60g (around 19) has over a third of your daily salt. Like their oil, olives do provide monounsaturated fats, linked to a reduced risk of heart disease and inflammation. But choose plain ones.

HALF A 400g PACK SAINSBURY’S SPINACH & RICOTTA TORTELLONI 1.7g salt

PASTA is a source of protein and fibre, but some can be quite salty — it’s the filling that’s the culprit. Choose unfilled pasta or check labels for a less salty one (e.g. Sainsbury’s Mushroom Tortelloni has half the salt with 0.87g per half pack).

HALF 410g CAN BRANSTON BAKED BEANS 1.9g salt

BEANS are good for energy and fibre, but are usually salty. Recipes vary: a whole can of these has 62 per cent of your salt maximum, while a Heinz can has 40 per cent. A half can on two slices of Warburtons (above) plus 50g cheddar has 78 per cent of your salt intake, so keep track of everything else you eat that day.

350g NEW COVENT GARDEN BROCCOLI, PEA AND PESTO SOUP 2.1g salt

SOUP can be a salt trap and this is one of the saltiest out there with a third of your daily limit per 350g bowl. There’s no quick way of telling how much salt shopbought soup contains, so read the label. A serving provides one-and-a-half portions of veg, though.