Commercially produced soups are usually very salty, especially those promoted by the television food presenters Loyd Grossman and Ainsley Harriott.

Grossman and Harriott exposed for salty soups - Independent

Extract:

"Soups promoted by the television food presenters Loyd Grossman and Ainsley Harriott have high levels of hidden salt, associated with heart attacks and strokes.

Packet soups sold under Harriott's name and ready-made sachets in Grossman's range were among the worst performers in a survey of 576 soups by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash). Salt in both the television food presenters' ranges averaged higher than the Government's target. Other very salty brands included Knorr, Batchelors, Baxters and Waitrose.

According to Cash, excessive salt consumption causes 70,000 strokes and heart attacks each year, half of which are fatal.

More than 80 per cent of salt consumed comes from food products rather than salt added to cooking at home.

The Food Standards Agency, the government watchdog, has set a target for soup of 0.6g salt per 100g by 2010. In a check of branded products, Cash found that although soups had become less salty, 48 per cent had more than the recommended maximum. Some - Baxters vegetarian tomato and orange and Morrisons' oxtail and minestrone - had 1.3g, double the target.

Seventeen soups have more than half of the total recommended daily intake of salt. Cash also warned that soup was often eaten with salty bread, making meals even more excessive. It was also "worrying" that Asda and Tesco's economy lines had more salt than standard ranges given that lower income customers were more at risk of cardiovascular disease."

I've been warning about the saltiness of soups for years. - See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/sodium_foods.html And I've always thought Knorr soup particularly noxious, unhealthy stuff...)o:

Further extract:

"The Food and Drink Federation claimed that the food industry had done a "fantastic job" in reducing salt in soup, pointing out that since 2003 salt levels had been cut by a quarter."

They've got a nerve! - Their soups were so very salty previously, this statement of theirs is like saying that although their soups are still poisonous, they've done ever so well in making them a bit less poisonous than they used to be...)o:

TV chefs in general have a lot to answer for with regard to salt in their dishes. - Years ago Antony Worrall Thompson used to ladle it in at every stage in his demonstration of cooking a dish! - The dishes must have been pretty lethal concoctions by the time they were finished...)o: - I used to wonder if he was paid by the Salt Industry to get people to use a lot of salt! - I think he was, actually... - But he seems to have lost a lot of weight in the last year or two so he must himself be eating less salt than he used to, and he certainly doesn't encourage people to use a lot in cooking these days, thank goodness. - You can buy cookery books that specialise in low salt cooking. - If you want to lose weight and/or to lower your blood pressure these low salt cookbooks would be a big help. - And home made soup is easy to prepare and delicious to eat and you need not add a lot of salt to it. - I like to put a lot of onion in it to give it plenty of flavour. (It's best to avoid using stock cubes because they are very salty.)

Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
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