New UK Research Reveals Salt Hidden in Biscuits

5 June 2013 --- Research carried out by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH), found surprising levels of salt in biscuits sold in local supermarkets. A survey of 479 sweet biscuits from the major supermarket chains found having sweet biscuits with your afternoon cup of tea, or popping a couple in your child’s packed lunch, could be adding more salt to your diet than you think.

Parents might be aware that the high levels of sugar found in biscuits are putting their children at increased risk of developing dental caries, obesity and diabetes; but they might not realise that the hidden salt is causing just as much damage - putting them at risk of developing high blood pressure later in life.

Recent data from the UK’s National Diet and Nutrition Survey 2011 show that 60 per cent of 19-64 year olds regularly eat biscuits. And children are eating just as many - if not more – biscuits than adults, with 80 per cent of under-tens eating them on a regular basis (at an average of 1-2 biscuits a day). The maximum advised salt intake for children is also much lower than that of adults; a child aged 4-6 should have half that of an adult, 3g.

Examples of biscuits high in salt:

• Asda Fun Size Mini Milk Chocolate Digestives, 0.4g per 25g bag
• Sainsbury’s Giant White Chocolate and Raspberry Cookies, 0.39g per 60g biscuit
• Asda Extra Special All Butter Belgian White Chocolate Cookies, 0.30g per 25g* biscuit
• McVitie’s Mini Gingerbread Men, 0.30g per 25g pack
• Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Ginger and oatflake cookies, 0.26g per 25g* biscuit
• Cadburys Milk Chocolate Digestives, 0.24g per 16g* biscuit
• McVitie’s Milk/Dark Chocolate Hobnobs, 0.20g per 19g* biscuit
*biscuit weight calculated from nutritional information

Children can find as much, or more, salt in one 16g Cadburys Digestive biscuit (0.24g) as the following;

• A chicken nugget (Sainsbury’s Frozen Chicken Nuggets, 0.24g per 17g nugget)
• A fish finger (Birds Eye Cod Fish Fingers, 0.2g per 28g finger)
• Salted popcorn (Butterkist Salted Popcorn, 0.20g per 20g serving)

“Many people will be very surprised to hear that so much salt is added to sweet biscuits.” says CASH Nutritionist Sonia Pombo. “This is in the form of either added salt (sodium chloride) or sodium bicarbonate. Both of these are largely unnecessary in biscuits. Even if bicarbonate is required, potassium bicarbonate or calcium bicarbonate can be used instead”.

The survey also revealed huge variations in the amount of salt between brands of the same biscuit type. Within digestive biscuits, some branded biscuits were shown to have more than DOUBLE the salt content of some supermarket own brand biscuits e.g. McVitie’s had 0.2g salt per digestive biscuit vs. Sainsbury’s So Organic with 0.09g per digestive biscuit.

Some varieties of biscuits had consistently lower levels of salt across all the brands, with some of the more traditional favourites such as custard creams and chocolate bourbons containing ‘trace’ levels of salt per portion (1 biscuit). However, this doesn’t hide from the fact that a large number of biscuits still contain unnecessary amounts of salt. CASH urge manufacturers to reduce the amount of salt in all their biscuits to the lowest levels possible.

Examples of biscuits low in salt

• Tesco Bourbon Cream Biscuits, trace per 14g biscuit (0.3g salt/100g product)
• Fox’s Fruit and Nut Chunkie, 0.08g per 26g* biscuit (0.3g salt/100g product)
• Waitrose Essential Nice Biscuits, trace per 8g* biscuit (0.3g salt/100g product)
• Jammie Dodgers, trace per 19g* biscuit (0.4g salt/100g product)
• Maryland Double Choc Cookies, trace per 11g* biscuit (0.4g salt/100g product)
*biscuit size calculated from nutritional information

The research also highlighted very confusing nutrition labelling. Of the 479 biscuits surveyed, 82 per cent gave just one biscuit as a portion size, which is unrealistic - most people would have at least two or three biscuits at a sitting. One in ten products failed to provide nutritional information per portion, and only stated the information per 100g, making it difficult to calculate just how much salt you are eating. Some biscuits such as Oreo, also only put sodium on the labels, and not salt, which may confuse consumers further. Finally, nearly 40 per cent of products did not show front of pack traffic light nutrition labelling at all, which has been shown to make it easier for the shopper to make a healthy, informed, choice.

“With salt hidden in sweet foods as well, how can parents be expected to prevent their children from eating too much salt, putting them at risk of high blood pressure as adults, one of the biggest cause of death in the UK?” says Professor Graham MacGregor, CASH Chairman and Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Queen Mary, University of London. “Manufacturers of biscuits need to remove the large and unnecessary amounts of salt that they put into biscuits”.

Victoria Taylor, Senior Dietitian at the British Heart Foundation, says: “When even sweet treats are harbouring a salty secret, it’s clear families face a real battle to cut down on their salt intake. It’s made even more difficult by the fact we have grown accustomed to the taste of salt and so it’s practically impossible to know by sight or taste how salty something actually is. Food labels, ideally using traffic light colours, will help make that clearer to shoppers and then it’s up to us all to keep a lid on the amount of sugar and salt we’re eating – something our waistlines and hearts will thank us for.”

TIPS for making healthier choices:

- Make biscuits a treat and not an everyday occurrence. If you like to snack, opt for healthier alternatives e.g. fruit, nuts and plain popcorn
- When making your own biscuits, be sure to use unsalted butter, or even better, a mono or polyunsaturated fat e.g. corn oil or rapeseed oil
- Baking powder is used as a raising agent when baking, but is not always necessary for biscuits. Avoid where possible or use potassium bicarbonate
- Compare nutrition labels and choose the lower salt options
- If you can’t resist a sweet treat, choose smaller biscuits and ensure you eat fewer of them
- Opt for more traditional biscuits e.g. bourbon biscuits or custard creams which were consistently lower in salt per biscuit across brands

Industry Responses include:

Morrisons: "All of our biscuits meet the Department of Health’s 2012 Salt Targets, and we work closely with our product development teams to further reduce salt content gradually without affecting quality or taste. Like CASH suggests, biscuits should be enjoyed as a treat and we advise customers to use Guideline Daily Amount on pack to make more informed decisions".

Malcolm Clark, Co-ordinator of Children's Food Campaign, “CASH’s findings are a timely reminder that it’s not just snacks like popcorn and nuts that pack a salty punch. Some of the nation’s most popular biscuits contain the double whammy of high levels of sugar and salt. Many children are already consuming far too much salt in their diets. New front-of-pack nutritional labelling, incorporating traffic lights for salt, will make it easier for parents to pick healthier options. But manufacturers have to play their part too: by reducing the salt in their products, and by bringing in the new labelling as soon as possible.”