Almost a quarter of soup on sale in UK supermarkets has too much salt, study finds
Too much implies that there is some logical, supportable, definition of “enough”.
Analysis of nearly 500 tinned and chilled products finds 23% exceed government’s voluntary salt target
Ah. So more than some made up number patrolled by pecksniff morons then?
Of the 481 soups Action on Salt and Sugar (AoSS) tested,
Ah, yes, pecksniff morons.
AoSS calculated that under front-of-pack labelling guidelines, one in six soups would be classified as red for high salt levels, and only 11 soups would be labelled green.
In contrast, every Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Waitrose, Co-op, Lidl and Covent Garden soup tested had salt levels at or below the government target
“Miss! Miss! The other kids aren’t playing fair!!”
“in contrast, every Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Waitrose, Co-op, Lidl and Covent Garden soup tested had salt levels at or below the government target”
That’ll be why they need to have salt added to make them palatable then!
Surely those brands would be well over 90% of all packet soup sold, so there really is not even an imaginary problem.
“AoSS”. Yes, they really did know what they were a load of, didn’t they.
The ‘o’ is the hole.
I remember I’d just started work in London and one lunchtime my new found workmates and I met an old man wandering around the West End with a sandwich board which read “THE END IS NIGH!”. We fell about laughing at the sad old git. Pity we’ve been made to abolish our sense of humour…
The infamous Stanley Green.
https://www.mylondon.news/news/nostalgia/eccentric-london-man-who-spent-25017547
My God Julia! Thanks for that. You can’t see me in the photo because it was after lunch and I may literally have “fallen about”…
Amazing to see how diverse we were then. <insert sarcasm emoji>
Crikey! I remember him. Almost like street furniture, he was. Bloody hell that photo makes me feel old. And don’t the people on Oxford Street look horrifyingly white!
Action on Salt (formerly known as Consensus Action on Salt & Health, CASH) is a group concerned with salt and its effects on health, based at the Research Action on Salt and Obesity unit within the Wolfson Institute of Public Health at Queen Mary University of London, and supported by expert scientific members.
Queen Mary (For many other outrages not just this to be fair) should have its ability to award degrees removed immediately, with no exceptions for current undergraduates pending this unit’s dissolution and the dismissal of its members. Those members should have their pensions liquidated and paid as an equivalent lump sum – no inflation linked final salary pension scheme.
It is, as often said the equivalent of the solution proposed by Sigourney Weaver in ‘Aliens’ but that does not make it any less valid.
“Action on Salt and Sugar (AoSS)”
I’d prefer a British acronym such as ARSS – Action on Reducing Salt and Sugar
There have been cases of people who take this crap seriously becoming ill with salt deficiency. Salt is an essential part of your diet and, unlike say water deficiency to which your body’s response is to make you feel thirsty, your body has no way of signalling that it is feeling short of salt.
My wife had cut all salt out of her diet when I first met her. She used to get very bad cramps all the time. When I suggested to her that the lack of salt could be the cause she resumed having salt and her cramps went away.
Stonyground, I’ve been out cycling and had to stop at McDonald’s for a large serve of fries. I had plenty of water with me but your body does eventually tell you it needs salt. Bananas were good for that too, as much as I hate the taste. I suppose it sounds better when Powerade describe them as “electrolytes”
Andyf, my wife went vegetarian for six months or so. She got very ill. I ended up prescribing her a couple of small steaks a week. Now we just have a varied diet.
“your body has no way of signalling that it is feeling short of salt.”
I’ve no idea but i do wonder after seeing the Ibex climb an effing dam to lick the leached salt from the stone face. Makes me think that there can be some sort of salt thirst.
Found it/
https://youtu.be/RG9TMn1FJzc
There is, actually… Starts with general concentration loss and general irritability, then headaches and cramps.
Not exactly a direct signal, but things *will* get Funny when nerves run short on sodium/potassium ions…
Easy to check when you mix a stiff bouillon from powder and take a swig. If it tastes *sweet* , you’re way below physiologically sensible salt levels.
Otherwise it just tastes really salty…
You often see it at festivals with volunteers and guests. Which is why both Volunteer Central and the first aid posts have a large water cooker and a basic selection of soups/broths at the ready. And the right of High and Low Justice to feed it to you….
People underestimate *how much* salt they’re sweatng out over a day when it’s warm…
Also why all the tech crews I ran, ran on (mandatory!!) Soup for Lunch, even in heat waves…
There’s no “She’ll be Right..” when it comes to wiring up festival bars with *lots* of metal surfaces + water + spills….
Talking of made up numbers*, here is John Campbell talking about research from 2014 highlighting a statistical error regarding the daily intake of Vitamin D3, and that far from the UK Govt recommended daily limit of 400* units of Vitamin D3, the actual amount needed was just shy of 9000 units per day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtoxkK7MeKc&t=545s
It still hasn’t been changed and he wonders why…..
*Apparently US research recommended 600 per day, but the UK government wanted to be a bit more cautious so chose 400……..
* And the alcohol limit too.
My prescription is 800 units per day, the max dose they were allowed prescribe when I was diagnosed as very low Vitamin D 8 years ago.
Move to a country where they have something called “sunshine.” Your calciferol receptors quickly get saturated. Irradiated skin provides a slow, steady release.
I take 4000 IU per day. Started early Feb 2020; you can guess why. I also take some zinc – apparently you need it so that your body can make the most of the VitD.
Maybe I should ask for VitD testing next time I have a “bloods”.
Not a doctor so take this with a pinch of salt (ho,ho) but I did some research 6 or 7 years ago and started taking 5000 D3 + Vit K2 and Vit C + Zinc. Saw this video and doubled D3 to 10,000.
Not saying i never get sniffles, but I definitely fare better than all of my mates (all jabbed, make of that what you will).
What happens if they find your levels are higher than some arbitrary average recommended limit? Do you have any symptoms of VitD overdose? If not, fuck ’em.
Fair point: can you summarise the symptoms of VitD overdose?
https://www.perplexity.ai/search/what-are-the-symptoms-of-exces-gd1ZjMzRSC6PYXceypllyw#0
Problem is, many of these are also symptoms of aged decrepitude. Can’t win ’em all.
Ta. It seems they’ve got you coming or going:
constipation, sometimes diarrhoea …
very frequent urination, or reduced urine …
Still coming?
Apparently it’s important to take some K2 along with D3, as high levels of the D can interfere with calcium uptake leading to risk of brittle bones.
My intake is similar to Addolff’s (with the D3 in liquid soft gel) since 2018. I feel yuck from time to time but I haven’t had any really heavy colds or flu in that period. Sailed through the madness without jabs. My fail at the moment is comfort eating and lack of exercise, due to downage from the loss of loved ones. Time to sort meself out.
Chin up, pal.
Thank you, kind sir.
If you’re in the South, come on the Imberbus and have a laugh.
Springtime is nearly here and the days are already getting longer. Keep the faith PJF.
High doses of D3 = mouse poison. It’s the D in D-Con.
I take 1200 iu daily, with K2 and Zinc. My vit D level as of last monday is 65, where less than 50 is insufficient. But the desired level is only that which will stop you getting rickets and should be much higher to get a benefit for the immune system. Incidentally my calcium and bone numbers are normal. Also, sunshine does not work in my location at the moment.
That should be 12000 iu. When I edited the comment, invalid email. WTF.
Oh i dunno.
I think an alchol limit of 9000 units per day might be a tad too much
Possibly apocryphal: older people seen at A&E with supposed symptoms of early-onset dementia, were found to be on very low salt diet and ‘cured’ by a saline drip.
Imagine being someone who gives a fuck about fulfilling government targets.
I follow AoSS – tell me you need a life without telling me you need a ilfe
You won’t be surprised to learn that AoSS is an “independant” charity that receives significant funding from government. As ever, Big Brother is watching YOU.
A baldfaced lie. It’s the same as the stupid “sugar causes diabetes” BS. HBP and diabetes are conditions that exist. Symptoms can be affected by diet, but diet is damn sure not the ’cause.’
It’s sloppy science. Activist science. Eating Tom Yum soup CANNOT cause HBP.
Gamecock finds that ALL SOUP BOUGHT IN SUPERMARKETS DOES NOT CONTAIN ENOUGH SALT. Hence, big boxes of Morton Iodized Sea Salt in kitchen. Government mandates/guidelines/targets do NOT reduce salt content of food – people add salt to taste.
Gamecock would ask ASS “who the fuck are you?” Who made you the salt police? Who do you think you represent? Why should Soup Head care what you think?
A new metric!
If you have HBP, you need to watch what you eat. Same with diabetes. If you don’t have HBP, it doesn’t fucking matter. What these lying turds imply is that alleged extra salt in soup can give you high blood pressure. It’s a lie.
Trump, you defunded them yet?
Soup Nazis.
According to hhs.gov, the withdrawal and defunding are complete.
Plus he just sent in the Marines:
https://x.com/HillelNeuer/status/2019472027221123133
Absolutely fanfuckingtastic! Lol
What Gamecock finds insidious about these soup nazis is they have the approval of their own conscience EVEN THOUGH their premise is WRONG! They feel great about attacking a problem they invented.
These wonderful medical experts somehow never seem to have heard of “salt homeostasis” – your body regulates it… Too much salt in your system, you produce very salty urine, too little and you produce unsalty urine. The system only breaks down if you consume massively too much salt – essentially if you drink sea water as your kidneys can’t cope with that much salt. There are a few unfortunates who have a sensitivity to high levels of salt, but the vast, vast majority of mankind can cope perfectly well without “advice” for the zealots!
I recently learned that eating spicy peppers lowers blood pressure. I had great success growing scotch bonnets last summer. The home grown ones a great fun because cooking with them is like playing Russian Roulette.
I bought a scotch bonnet in the early summer at a fete. It had one tiny pepper. Re-potted it. 6 months later it had grown a hardly at all. Still only one pepper. What did i do wrong? (outside on patio until Octover then kitchen window sill)
Eating too much salt can cause high blood pressure, which increases the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
I don’t have the reference to hand but apparently the first thing a hospital does if you go in with a heart attack is stick you on a v high salt-content drip.
True.
The Romans had a particular punishment for the worst criminals.
Lock them up and feed them a no salt diet.
After about forty days they die in exquisite agony.
Indeed Phillip.
Without suficient salt to feed the bodies’ sodium pump the whole nervous system shuts down. The resulting agony is, as you say, truly exquisite.
Another £300k a year of mostly taxpayers money spewed away on nosense.
We need a UK DOGE to kill off all this nonsense.
This funding came from a charitable trust, not taxations. There’s more detail here, as well as a mystery to be solved as to why the donation was made by marcela trust:
https://x.com/cjsnowdon/status/2019712778446274576
of the half dozen major donors listed on their website 2 are direct govt funded, 2 indirectly govt funded and the other 2 are more obscure.
The amount of salt needed by an individual varies greatly depending on the individual and his/her lifestyle. Anyone running (or even walking) a marathon in August requires a lot more salt than a penpusher (or he himself does in December).
It is acceptable for the government to set a salt target – provided that it explains that this is a target for a desk-jockey (or that it is a target for an agricultural labourer and that a deskjockey only needs one-third of it). What is NOT acceptable is that some uneducated self-appointed group declare that any certain level of salt is too much for everyone.
May I invite you all to look up “Gatorade” (I, personally, use Coca-Cola’s copy called “Powerade” for summer training sessions).
Sorry, someone’s got at the Wikipedia entry for Gatorade – the one I remember said that it helped U of Florida teams cope with loss of salt etc while playing in hot weather (the latter is endemic in Florida).
Gatorade. When I was touring the US and playing outdoor stadia in the hot, sweaty bits, the stage crew lived on it.
Yes, always used Powerade as a rehydrate too, the salt and sugar made it easier to take in plenty. However there are some individuals who cannot properly handle salt, a kidney related issue I think genetic, who DO have to watch salt intake and can get HBP from excess salt. But excluding those the whole “high salt diet” nonsense is a classic scare story without a reasonable scientific basis.
Consensus Action on Salt & Health (CASH)…
They got away with that? “Please make the cheque to CASH…” That’s Alan B’Stard territory.
According to Dr Malcolm Kendrick, the science (as opposed to The Science™) shows that in fact the more salt you consume the longer you live:
https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2025/11/07/disruptive-science-part-one/