«Low Salt» Only Works When Comparing Similar Products

Salt on packaging is easy to miss: the number is small, and products are not eaten in 100g portions. This perk normalizes it to a common measure and helps compare two similar products, such as two sauces or two ready-made meals.

It indicates three levels: almost no salt, very low salt, and low salt. The upper limit for the last level, 0.3 g per 100 g, does not make the product «unsalted». It is designed to immediately identify an option with less salt among similar ones.

Look at the number per 100 g, and then at your serving size. If you eat 300 g of a product, the salt content will be three times higher than indicated in the perk. This is especially noticeable for drinks and soups.

The perk only considers salt. It says nothing about calories, sugar, or ingredients. Conversely, the absence of such a mark does not make the product bad: it simply might not meet the chosen threshold.

In EU labeling, «salt» is calculated as sodium multiplied by 2.5. This rule is stated in EU Regulation 1169/2011. For making choices at the shelf, something else is more important: compare products within the same category and do not forget about portion size.