Pesto warning: Some brands have ‘more salt than McDonald’s burger’
Written by News on 04/10/2017
Some pesto sauces contain more salt per serving than a McDonald’s hamburger, a survey has revealed.
Campaign group Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) named two Sacla products – Italia Organic Vegetarian Pesto No 5 Basil and Italia Pesto No 1 Classic Basil – as having 1.5g of salt per serving.
This is a higher level than in a McDonald’s burger, the campaign group said, and also makes the sauces 30% saltier than seawater.
It is also an increase since they products were last reviewed in 2009, despite an ongoing health campaign to reduce levels in grocery products.
None of the branded pesto sauces included in the survey had the Department of Health’s recommended colour-coded nutrition label, "despite some of these products being the worst offenders when it comes to salt", the group said.
The study found Napolina Green Pesto with Basil, Gino D’Acampo Pesto alla Genovese and Truly Italian Genovese Basil Pesto all contained between 2g and 2.5g of salt per 100g.
Tesco Reduced Fat Red Pesto, Aldi’s Specially Selected Italian Pesto Genovese and Italian Pesto Rosso, Jamie Oliver Green Pesto and Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Pesto Alla Genovese all contained less than 1g of salt per 100g.
The research group has called on Public Health England to "act tough" following the findings.
CASH campaign manager Sonia Pombo told Sky News: "It’s not compulsory, it’s a voluntary campaign, it’s a voluntary target that these companies have been asked to follow, with very little monitoring being carried out by Public Health England.
"And there are no sanctions being done if they don’t follow the rules so unfortunately quite a few companies aren’t taking it as seriously as we’d like.
"The campaign’s been going on for well over 10 years now, we have seen some very good improvements but not enough and it’s slowing down now."
CASH chairman Graham MacGregor branded the findings a "national scandal" as Sacla insisted it made products to be incorporated within a "balanced diet".
PHE chief nutritionist Dr Alison Tedstone insisted the body had been "very clear" and called for manufacturers not to be "complacent".
(c) Sky News 2017: Pesto warning: Some brands have ‘more salt than McDonald’s burger’
