Where did the story come from? The stories are based on a survey by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH); a group of specialists concerned about how much salt we eat and its effects on our health. CASH have previously worked with the Government’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) to work out how much salt is contained in processed foods. The group surveyed over 200 breakfast items between June and October 2008, obtaining information via product labels, company websites and customer services. Food outlets that they looked at included Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Caffe Nero, Pret A Manger, EAT, McDonalds and Burger King, in addition to cooked breakfast outlets in South West London.

What is the issue? It is important that this is brought to public awareness. Although many people are aware of the need to limit their sugar and saturated fat intake, salt is often overlooked. The perception that not seasoning food with salt is enough to keep within safe levels is often misplaced. It is known that 75% of the salt we consume is already present in the food that we buy. The RDA for salt is 6g per day. People in the UK currently consume about 8.6g per day. This is an average and many exceed this level.

The key point from the survey is that one breakfast meal can tip you over the 6g per day salt allowance. It found that a traditional English fry-up can contain your entire recommended daily salt intake. A surprising finding was that many croissants, pastries and muffins have more salt than a rasher of bacon (roughly 0.8g). The saltiest was the Starbucks’ cinnamon swirl with a 1.74g salt content – equivalent to two rashers of bacon; adding the latté pushes this up to 2.1g. All American-style muffins contained as much as a standard bag of crisps (0.5g), with Costa’s Raspberry and White Chocolate muffin having the highest content of those tested.

Also surprising, was that foods perceived to be healthier choices may be disguising high salt levels. A breakfast of coffee, orange juice, a standard bowl of Kellogg’s Cornflakes and two slices of toast with butter and marmite contains half the daily allowance of salt.

Why is salt bad for you? Salt is filtered in the kidneys and has an effect on regulating blood pressure in the body. Raised salt levels can lead to an increase in blood pressure and this carries the risk for cardiovascular disease, such as coronary artery disease and stroke.What should I do? Aim to reduce your salt intake. A Cochrane review found that a modest reduction in salt intake for four weeks or more has a significant effect on blood pressure. This occurs in both people with normal blood pressure and those with high blood pressure.

The CASH researchers say that cooked breakfasts don’t have to be completely off the menu if you watch what you eat. Apparently, one egg, tomatoes, mushrooms, and one slice of toast and butter contain less than 0.7g salt. Limit your intake of bacon, sausages, baked beans with added salt, and black pudding.

When buying packaged cereals and other foods, look at the salt content wherever possible. When eating away from home in restaurants, nutritional information is often not openly available. However, it can usually be obtained directly from the outlet or from a company website.

CASH have published the full results of their survey on their website. This includes tables showing the saltiest and better breakfast choices in each food type category for different coffee shop outlets. The FSA website - Salt - is full of helpful information on reducing your salt intake for yourself and your family.

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