Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics

NUTRITIONAL SCIENCE
Salt (sodium chloride) content of retail samples of Nigerian
white bread: implications for the daily salt intake of
normotensive and hypertensive adults
B. C. Nwanguma & C. H. Okorie
University of Nigeria, Department of Biochemistry, Enugu State, Nigeria

Keywords
bread, hypertension, Nigeria, salt, sodium,
sodium chloride.
Correspondence
B. C. Nwanguma, University of Nigeria,
Department of Biochemistry, Nsukka Campus,
Enugu State 410001, Nigeria.
Tel: +234-8063655062
E-mail: bennett.nwanguma@unn.edu.ng
How to cite this article
Nwanguma B.C. & Okorie C.H. (2013) Salt
(sodium chloride) content of retail samples of
Nigerian white bread: implications for the daily
salt intake of normotensive and hypertensive
adults. J Hum Nutr Diet. 26, 488–493
doi:10.1111/jhn.12038
Abstract
Background: Bread has been identified as a major contributor to the exces-
sive salt (sodium chloride) intake of consumers in many countries, some of
which have very high incidences of hypertension and related cardiovascular
complications, such as stroke. This has prompted a global rise in interest in
the salt content of breads produced and consumed in many other countries.
Methods: The sodium contents of retail samples of 100 brands of Nigerian
white bread were determined by photometry with a view to estimating the
relative contribution of bread to the recommended daily sodium intake of
both normotensive and hypertensive adults in the country.
Results: The salt content of the bread samples varied extensively, ranging
from 0.51 g per 100 g (0.51%) to 1.8 g per 100 g (1.8%). The average salt
content was 1.36 g per 100 g. Based on an estimated consumption of six
slices of bread (about 180 g) per meal of bread, this equates to a daily
intake of between 0.99 g and 3.33 g of salt from bread alone. This repre-
sents between 19.8% and 66.6% of the recommended daily allowance of 5 g
for normotensive adults, and between 24.75% and 83.25% of the recom-
mended daily allowance of 4 g for hypertensive adults.
Conclusions: The consumption of some brands of bread by normotensive
and hypertensive adults puts them at great risk of exceeding their recom-
mended daily allowance for salt. Thus, there is an urgent need to regulate
the amount of salt added to bread. In the interim, compelling bakers to
declare the salt content of their products on the packaging could help
consumers, especially hypertensive adults, avoid brands with a high salt
content.

Katan, 2004; WHO, 2008, 2011). Excessive salt intake has

Introduction
Salt (sodium chloride) is a major source of sodium in
human nutrition. Its intake in excess of physiological
needs and above the recommended daily intake is a com-
mon occurrence around the world (Elliot & Brown,
2007), and is an important modifiable risk factor for
hypertension and related cardiovascular complications,
such as stroke [World Health Organization (WHO),
2003; Yusuf et al., 2004], which presently account for a
very significant proportion of deaths as a result of non-
communicable diseases in many countries (Reddy &
also been associated with increased risks of colon cancer
(Riboli & Norat, 2001; Hu et al., 2011), osteoporosis
(Candarella et al., 2009) and kidney stones (Nouvenne
et al., 2010). Achieving population-wide reductions in salt
intake is therefore an important public health priority in
many countries (Webster et al., 2011).
Reducing the salt content of processed foods has been
recognised as a feasible and more effective strategy for
reducing daily salt intake than simply reducing the
amount of salt added during cooking or on the table
(WHO, 2007). This is based on the realisation that

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488 Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics ª 2013 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.
 B. C. Nwanguma and C. H. Okorie
processed foods are major contributors to the daily salt
intake of populations, with processed meat, bread and
bakery products, dairy and cereal products often listed
amongst the top five saltiest processed foods. (Webster
et al., 2010; Ni Mhurchu et al., 2011; Woodward et al.,
2012). Unfortunatley, consumers are often unaware of the
salt content of some of these processed foods that they
consume regularly. This so-called ‘hidden salt’ has been
reported to contribute up to 95% of the salt intake of
some people, especially in countries where processed
foods are widely consumed (Anderson et al., 2010).
The unexpected inclusion in the list of very salty pro-
cessed foods is bread, a widely consumed food, whose
salt concentration is often not obvious from the taste.
Thus, unknown to many bread eaters, the concentration
of salt found in bread often exceeds the recommended
benchmark. In a recent study of the sodium content of
processed foods in UK, Ni Mhurchu et al. (2011)
reported sodium concentrations of up to 1200 mg per
100 g (equivalent to 3.0 g of salt per 100 g of bread) in
some brands of bread. Thus, because of their popularity
with both children and adults, bread and other bakery
products have been reported to contribute up to one-
quarter of the dietary salt intake in some countries
(Grimes et al., 2008, 2011; Ni Mhurchu et al., 2011;
Villani et al., 2012; Woodward et al., 2012). This realisa-
tion has now prompted many developed countries to
identify bread as an important target for population-wide
salt reduction programmes (Girgis et al., 2003; WHO,
2010; Ferrante et al., 2011; Legowski & Legetic, 2011). A
salt concentration of 1.1 g per 100 g of bread (equivalent
to 440 mg of sodium per 100 g of bread) is the recom-
mended limit in Australia and New Zealand, whereas the
Food Standards Agency of the UK recently set an even
lower salt limit of 1.0 g per 100 g of bread (the equiva-
lent of 400 mg of sodium per 100 g of bread) as target
for bakers to meet by August 2012 (Food Standards
Agency, 2011). Bread is now regularly included in the list
of salty processed foods in many countries (Webster
et al., 2010; Ni Mhurchu et al., 2011), and is extensively
consumed as a snack or a formal meal in Nigeria (Emeje
et al., 2010). However, the subject of excessive salt con-
tent of bread and its relative contribution to the daily salt
intake of consumers is yet to be recognised and given
appropriate attention as a public health issue in many
countries, including Nigeria, despite reports of rising
incidences of hypertension and related cardiovascular
complications. Consequently, bread eaters in Nigeria,
including those on prescribed low-salt diets, may inadver-
tently continue to exceed the recommended daily salt
intake, which has been set at less than 5 g and 4 g for
normotensive and hypertensive adults, respectively
[WHO, 2003; US Department of Health & Human
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Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics ª 2013 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.
Salt content of Nigerian white bread
Services (HHS) & the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA), 2005; Cotugna & Wolpert, 2011].
The present study aimed to determine the salt content
of retail samples of white bread available in Nigeria, com-
prising a country of approximately 160 million people,
where bread is a very popular food item on the breakfast
menu. The results obtained from the study would help
predict the contribution of bread to the recommended
daily salt intake of Nigerians, which, at 9.6 g per day
(Sanusi et al., 2011), far exceeds the average recom-
mended daily allowance (RDA) of less than 5.0 g per day
(WHO, 2011). Further justification for the study comes
from recent reports of relatively higher prevalence of
hypertension in South-Eastern Nigeria, where the present
study was conducted (Ahaneku et al., 2011).
Materials and methods
Collection and identification
Retail samples of 100 brands of white bread made from
wheat flour, representing the major brands regularly sup-
plied to selected retail outlets were purchased from 10
standard retail outlets in Nsukka and Enugu towns, both
in Enugu State in South-Eastern Nigeria, were used for
the present study. All samples were bought fresh within
24 h of supply by the bakeries, and the salt content of
each sample was determined within 24 h of purchase.
Samples were assigned code sample numbers that identi-
fied both the brand and the retail point of purchase.
Preparation of bread samples
The labelled bread samples were first dried in an oven set
at a temperature of 60 °C for 24 h. Thereafter, test por-
tions were subjected to dry digestion (ashing) using 25%
HNO3 at a temperature of 450 °C.
Determination of sodium
The sodium content of the ashed samples was determined
by flame photometry (Castenheira et al., 2009). The
sodium chloride equivalent was obtained by multiplying
the sodium concentration by 2.5. Estimates of salt intake
from bread were obtained by calculating the mean salt
content per slice of bread, and determining the average
number of slices eaten by Nigerian adults per meal and,
thus, overall salt intake from bread.
Results
The results of the survey on the salt content of retail sam-
ples of bread are shown in Fig. 1. The lowest concentra-
tion of salt observed was 0.51 g per 100 g (equivalent of
489
 Salt content of Nigerian white bread B. C. Nwanguma and C. H. Okorie

mined average consumption of six slices of bread, with

each slice weighing 30 g. The estimated average intake
from the samples analysed range from 0.99 g from the
consumption of the samples in salt band A to 3.33 g
from the consumption of samples in salt band N.

Figure 1 Scatterplot of the salt content of retail samples of bread
(g per 100 g).
204 mg of sodium per 100 g of bread), whereas the high-
est concentration was 1.8 g per 100 g (equivalent of
700 mg of sodium per 100 g of bread). The average salt
concentration of the brands investigated was 1.36 g per
100 g. This is equivalent to an average sodium concentra-
tion of 0.544 g per 100 g of bread. Based on these values,
the brands were classified into 14 salt bands, ‘A’ to ‘N’,
differing by 0.1 g of salt.
Only 57% of the breads sampled had salt contents
equal to or below the upper limit of 1.1 mg per 100 g
recommended in many countries. The estimated salt
intakes from bread samples in the different salt bands are
shown in Table 1. The calculations are based on predeter-
Discussion
The salt content of bread is fast becoming an important
parameter for assessing the quality and safety of bread,
especially in countries such as the UK where upper limits
have been set for the amount of salt to be allowed in
bread (Food Standards Agency, 2011)
The salt content of the retail samples of white bread
analysed in the present study varied rather widely (Fig. 1),
ranging from as low as 0.51 g per 100 g (sodium equiva-
lent = 204 mg per 100 g) to as high as 1.8 g per 100 g
(sodium equivalent = 720 mg per 100 g). Only 57% of
the bread samples analysed fell below the limit of 1.0 g
per 100 g set recently by the Food Standards Agency.
Concentrations of salt comparable to the ones observed
in the present study have been reported in other
countries (Grimes et al., 2008). In addition, Ferrante
et al. (2011) recently reported a much higher average salt
concentration of 2.0 g per 100 g in breads consumed in
Argentina, whereas Castanheira et al. (2009) also reported
values of up to 1.8 g per 100 g in Portuguese bread.
Although such high levels of salt are more likely to be
found in countries with no legislation limiting the

Table 1 The estimated salt content of bread and contribution to recommended daily intakes of normotensive and hypertensive adults

Percentage of Percentage of
Range of salt in Median salt content Average salt content Salt intake per salt RDA for salt RDA for
100 g of of breads in each per slice of bread meal of six normotensive hypertensive
Salt band bread (g) n band (g per 100 g) weighing 30 g (g)* slices (g) adults (%)† adults (%)‡

A 0.51–0.60 5 0.55 0.17 0.99 19.8 24.75

B 0.61–0.70 8 0.65 0.20 1.17 23.4 29.25
C 0.71–0.80 9 0.75 0.23 1.35 27.0 33.75
D 0.81–0.90 10 0.85 0.26 1.53 30.6 38.25
E 0.91–1.0 11 0.95 0.29 1.71 34.2 42.75
F 1.01–1.1 10 1.05 0.32 1.89 37.8 47.25
G 1.11–1.2 6 1.15 0.35 2.07 41.4 51.75
H 1.21–1.3 8 1.25 0.38 2.25 45.0 56.25
I 1.31–1.4 13 1.35 0.41 2.43 48.6 60.75
J 1.41–1.5 10 1.45 0.44 2.61 52.2 65.25
K 1.51–1.6 6 1.55 0.47 2.79 55.8 69.75
L 1.61–1.7 1 1.65 0.50 2.97 59.4 74.25
M 1.71–1.8 2 1.75 0.53 3.15 63.0 78.75
N 1.81–1.9 1 1.85 0.56 3.33 66.6 83.25

*Based on the median salt concentration in each salt band.

†
Based on a RDA of 5 g per day for normotensive adults.
‡
Based on a RDA of 4 g per day for hypertensive adults [US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) & the US Department of Agriculture
(USDA), 2005; Cotugna & Wolpert, 2011].
RDA, recommended daily allowance.

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490 Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics ª 2013 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.
 B. C. Nwanguma and C. H. Okorie
amount of salt added to bread, comparable levels of salt
could also be present in breads sold in countries such as
the UK and Australia where compliance with recom-
mended salt limits is voluntary (Dunford et al., 2011; Ni
Mhurchu et al., 2011). This is because, in the absence of
mandatory legislations, bakers would prefer to add as
much salt as they consider necessary to achieve the dough
of desired quality and, more importantly, satisfy the taste
preferences of consumers.
Based on the concentration of salt present in the analy-
sed samples, the contribution of bread to the recom-
mended daily intake of salt varies from 0.99 g (for bread
containing about 0.55 g of salt per 100 g of bread) to
3.33 g (for bread containing 1.85 g of salt per 100 g of
bread). These values translate to 19.8% and 66.6% of the
new salt RDA of 5 g per day for normotensive adults,
respectively (Table 1). Similarly, these quantities of salt
would amount to between 24.75% and 83.25% of the
RDA of salt for hypertensive adults, respectively. Even
when the widely recommended concentration of 1.1 g of
salt per 100 g of bread is achieved, the salt consumption
from six slices of bread weighing 30 g each would be
approximately 2 g. This equates to approximately 50% of
the daily salt intake of 4 g recommended for hypertensive
adults or adults aged >51 years.
Although the salt content of some brands of bread fell
well within the limit of 1.0 g per 100 g (in the UK) or
1.1 g per 100 g (in Australia), there is an urgent need to
reduce the amount of salt added to some of the brands.
The approach currently advocated is a stepwise or
gradual reduction, so that consumers who may already be
used to current salt levels in bread are not put off by the
sudden change in taste or saltiness that would result from
a drastic drop (Girgis et al., 2003; Henney et al., 2010).
Some countries, notably the UK and Australia, have
already achieved significant reductions in the salt content
of bread by this approach. Recent studies on the con-
sumer acceptance of low-salt bread have also demon-
strated that such gradual reductions can be accomplished
over a short period, while largely retaining consumer
acceptance (Girgis et al., 2003; Bolhuis et al., 2011; Ferr-
ante et al., 2011). As expected, the implications of such
reductions on the nonsensory properties of bread have
also been the subject of on-going investigation. The salt
added to dough serves essentially to control the fermenta-
tion action of yeast, to strengthen the dough and to pro-
vide a uniform texture in the finished bread (Lynch et al.,
2009). In addition, salt serves as a preservative against
microbial growth (Samapundo et al., 2010). These make
salt almost an indispensable ingredient in baking. Results
from studies already conducted on the possible conse-
quences of such reductions on some of the desirable qual-
ities of dough and bread demonstrate that these
ª 2013 The Authors
Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics ª 2013 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.
Salt content of Nigerian white bread
parameters may not be affected drastically. For example,
Lynch et al. (2009) observed a decrease in the resistance
of dough to extension but observed that no changes on
the structural properties of the bread occurred when the
salt concentration of dough was reduced from 1.2% to
0.6% and 0.3%. In addition, the fact that the salt content
of 57% of the bread samples analysed in the present study
fell within the recommended limit implies that it is possi-
ble to produce bread with much lower concentrations.
The possibility of partially replacing sodium chloride
with salts of potassium, magnesium and calcium, which
do not pose similar health risks as NaCl, as well as the
use of technology to enhance saltiness at the same time as
reducing the actual salt content of bread, has also been
suggested (Charlton et al., 2007; Noort et al., 2010,
2011). This currently constitutes an important aspect of
on-going research on the subject of salt reduction in
bread (Kaur et al., 2011).
Considering the popularity of bread in Nigeria, and the
risk of exceeding the recommended daily intake for salt
through the consumption of brands of bread with high
salt content, a reduction in the salt content of bread
would bring about the desired reduction in the the salt
consumption of Nigerians. For any such salt-reduction
programme to succeed, compliance must be enforced in
addition to compelling bread manufacturers to declare
the salt content of their products (Pietinen et al., 2007).
There will be need also to increase the awareness of peo-
ple on the presence of ‘hidden salt’ in many processed
foods, as well as the potential health benefits of reduced
salt intake (Ireland et al., 2010).
Because bread is easily the most widely consumed pro-
cessed food in Nigeria, producing breads with low salt
content would translate into a significant reduction in
population-wide consumption of salt (Cobiac et al., 2010;
He & Macgregor, 2010; He et al., 2010). Hopefully, this
would result in a reduction of the incidence of hyperten-
sion and related cardiovascular complications currently
associated with the consumption of salt in excess of the rec-
ommended daily amounts for the different population
groups.
Conflict of interest, source of funding and
authorship
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.
No specific funding was received from any funding
organization towards the conduct of the studies.
BCN and CHO contributed fully to the final design and
experimentation.
Both authors critically reviewed the manuscript and
approved the final version submitted for publication.
491
 Salt content of Nigerian white bread
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