Salt in kids' food

A salty start to the day

If you think breakfast cereals are an odd source of salt, you may be surprised to learn Kellogg’s Crispix Honey Cereal, Coles Rice Puffs, Woolworths Homebrand Rice Pops and Aldi Goldenvale Breakfast Bubbles are all high in sodium. A further 22 of the 36 cereals we looked at have moderate sodium levels, including a few Kellogg’s favourites – Rice Bubbles, Coco Pops and Froot Loops. For a detailed analysis of children’s cereals see our children's cereals review. 

Salt in snacks

Of the 64 savoury snacks we looked at:

• 1 product (Heinz Little Kids Tomato Mini Corn Cakes) has low sodium
• 66% of snacks are high in sodium.

Some products, such as Rice Wheels and Wholegrain Corn Tubes in chicken and nacho flavours from Healtheries Kidscare, are high in sodium yet marketed as healthy. Woolworths Mini Macro Organic Cheese Corn Chips deserve a mention for their saltiness, despite advertising that focuses on otherwise “healthy” aspects of the product, such as the use of organic corn and no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. 

Cheese and crackers

Pre-packaged cheese dips and crackers, which are targeted at kids’ lunchboxes, are some of the worst offenders in the category. Kraft Cheese Snackabouts in original and chicken flavours, and the Coles French onion snack packs, have more than 1200mg of sodium per 100g (that’s double what we consider to be high). Woolworths Homebrand Cheese Dip and Crispbread, Kraft Cheesybite Snackabouts and Uncle Tobys Le Snak all have more than 1000mg/100g. 

Of the nine cheese snacks we looked at:

• 9 were high in salt
• 4 have more than double the sodium of regular Bega cheddar cheese.

The Kraft products – Cheestiks, Cheestick Wedges, Pods Girlz and Pods Bots – were the worst performers in this category. 

Biscuits and lunchbox bars

Is it really necessary for salt to creep into sweet snacks aimed at children? In the category of biscuits and sweet lunchbox bars:

• 4 products (Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs caramel popcorn, Mini Oreo biscuits, and Mr Munchies My Little Pony and Scooby Doo cookies) have more sodium per 100g than Parkers Pretzels, which are studded with salt crystals.
• 57 of 70 products we chose have moderate salt levels. 

Spreads

While not directly aimed at children, spreads often end up on their sandwiches. We checked the salt levels in these spreads and found some big differences between similar products. Sanitarium Natural Peanut Butter has 8mg/100g sodium compared with the Kraft crunchy option, which has more than 80 times this amount at 647mg/100g, while Woolworths Choc Hazelnut Spread has three times more sodium per 100g than Nutella. Meanwhile, Vegemite is about three times saltier than sea water.

Dinner overload

An increasing number of pre-prepared kids’ dinners are appearing on supermarket shelves. Of the 62 products we reviewed:

• 3 are high in sodium
• 39 have moderate sodium levels
• 20 are low in sodium.

Woolworths Yummy Meals Spaghetti with Cannon Balls has 821mg of sodium per serve, just shy of the upper daily intake limit for a three year old, and more than half the upper daily recommendation for children four to eight years old. Latina Kids Cheese & Vegetable Mini Ravioli has moderate sodium levels, but the Latina sauce it’s recommended that you serve with it contains more than 1000mg sodium per serve. A serve of Hormels Kid’s Kitchen Spaghetti & Mini Meatballs in Tomato Sauce provides a four-to-eight-year-old with almost all their daily upper level of salt intake. 

Enjoying a few backyard barbecue favourites can also lead children to indulge in more salt than their daily recommended upper limit in just one meal. A serve of Woolworths Mini Macro Organic Beef Mini Sausages, two slices of white bread and a dash of tomato sauce comes in at 1134mg sodium. 

Maggi 2 Minute Noodles, a popular after-school snack or dinner option, also happens to be one of the worst offenders. A packet of the classic chicken flavour provides 1254mg, more than an eight year old’s recommended daily intake.

Too much salt in one day?

Expert opinions

Children have unique nutritional needs and the development of poor nutrition habits during childhood, such as high salt consumption, is difficult to make up for later in life. The Australian Division of World Action on Salt & Health (AWASH) states that children need very little salt to stay healthy and should eat much less than adults. 

“While it is well known that salt increases the risk of high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack in older people, the harmful effects of salt on children are much less well recognised. Too much salt in childhood produces a serious rise in blood pressure that progressively worsens with age,” warns AWASH. 

Fast facts on salt

• High blood pressure accounts for 60% of all strokes, 50% of all heart disease and is the third-greatest burden of disease in Australia after tobacco smoking and physical inactivity. 
• The 2007 National Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey found salt consumption among children aged two to 16 is well above the recommended maximum levels. 

What the dietitian says

Accredited practising dietitian Rachel Jeffery says care must be taken when choosing food marketed at children, particularly foods such as cereals and sweet biscuits, not normally considered to be salty or savoury that may contain high levels of hidden salt. The taste for salty foods is something that is learned, according to Jeffery, who reminds parents the best approach is to teach children not to eat salty foods from the beginning. 

“Feeding children foods high in salt is setting up behaviours that will continue into adulthood – behaviours that over a long period will potentially put children into a high-risk category.” 

“When children first start to eat solids, it’s not necessary to add fat, salt or sugars to foods. Children’s tastebuds are sensitive – something that tastes bland to us is not necessarily bland to them,” she told CHOICE.

Buyer beware

“Food marketing and labelling needs to be looked at carefully when shopping, as brands or labels quoting ‘healthy’, ‘mother nature’ or ‘mother earth’, ‘natural’ and ‘smart’ do not automatically imply all the ingredients in the food are nutritious in the quantities used,” says Jeffery. 

Woolworths’ new Mini Macro range is found in the “health” or “free-from” food aisle as well as the meat section. These organic products are marketed as a good choice for hungry little mouths, yet they may not have a particularly healthy nutritional profile. In some cases they are no better than an adult equivalent. Mini Macro Organic Meatballs for Kids, for example, have 625mg/100g sodium, while the Woolworths 100% Australian Beef Meatballs for adults have 610mg. Mini Macro Organic Cheese Corn Chips for kids are higher in sodium than Woolworths Supreme Cheese Corn Chips. Similarly, Sakata Paws Rice Snacks for children are no lower in sodium than its regular plain rice crackers, and Arnott’s chocolate coated Tiny Teddies have double the sodium content of Tim Tams. 

Look at the nutrition panel

Jeffery suggests teaching children about nutrition by taking them into the supermarket and encouraging them to read nutrition panels. “Look at the fat, salt and sugar and ask, ‘if we are going to choose this food, which is the better option?’”

Instructions

Comparison table list

• By default ALL tested products are listed. You can select up to five items to view in a side by side comparison.
• Additional columns can be viewed by using the Next/Previous buttons.
• Column headings are explained in using the table at the bottom of the page.

Using the filters

• Use the filters to show only products that meet your specific requirements or which have the specific features you're interested in. Selecting filters automatically updates the comparison table list.
• The number shown in brackets represents the number of products that will be shown if you select that filter.
• You can view additional filters by selecting the Show more filters button.