Salt Testing in Food
Nutritional claims regarding salt in food are regulated
Nutritional claims on food packaging are highly regulated, and need to be tested and calculated in order to be legal. Northern Testhouse is ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited using ICP-OES technique - please get in touch if you think we could help.
What is a Nutrition claim?
Nutrition claims are only permitted if they are listed in Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 as amended by Regulation (EU) No 1046/2012.
'Nutrition claim' means any claim which states, suggests or implies that a food has particular beneficial nutritional properties due to:
The energy (calorific value) it:
a) Provides
b) provides at a reduced or increased rate or
c) does not provide
The nutrients or other substances it:
a) contains
b) contains in reduced or increased proportions or
c) does not contain
For salt, the Regulation stipulates:
Low sodium/salt
A claim that a food is low in sodium/salt, and any claim likely to have the same meaning for the consumer, may only be made where the product contains no more than 0,12 g of sodium, or the equivalent value for salt, per 100 g or per 100 ml.
Very low sodium/salt
A claim that a food is very low in sodium/salt, and any claim likely to have the same meaning for the consumer, may only be made where the product contains no more than 0,04 g of sodium, or the equivalent value for salt, per 100 g or per 100 ml.
Sodium free or salt-free
A claim that a food is sodium-free or salt-free, and any claim likely to have the same meaning for the consumer, may only be made where the product contains no more than 0,005 g of sodium, or the equivalent value for salt, per 100 g.
No added sodium/salt
A claim stating that sodium/salt has not been added to a food and any claim likely to have the same meaning for the consumer may only be made where the product does not contain any added sodium/salt or any other ingredient containing added sodium/salt and the product contains no more than 0,12 g sodium, or the equivalent value for salt, per 100 g or 100 ml.
Potential health risks
It is understood that high intake of salt, the sodium ion, could be linked with high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease. With this concern, the FSA initiated various targets for reducing the salt content of specific food groups.
Determination of salt:
Salt content can be determined by two methods:
Determination of chloride by titration
Determination of sodium by technique such as Flame Photometry, AAS, ICP etc
For either method, the salt content is calculated based on the chemical formula NaCl
Northern Testhouse is ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited using ICP-OES technique - please get in touch if you think we can help.