Pizza firms feel FSA ire for over-salting
Pizza Hut and PizzaExpress are the latest companies to have come under fire from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) for using too much salt.
In its latest naming-and-shaming exercise, the agency said that a 200g portion of a thin-base margherita pizza from Pizza Hut contained 3.2g of salt, 53% of an adult's recommended daily intake.
A take-away pizza from PizzaExpress fared little better, with a thin-base margherita containing 2.9g of salt, about half of an adult's recommended intake. Domino's did better in the survey, with a similar pizza containing 2.3g of salt, or 40% of the daily recommended level.
The survey of 98 fresh, frozen and take-away pizzas and 115 tins of beans and spaghetti found three times more salt in some products than in others. Sir John Krebs, chairman of the FSA, said that 75% of an average adult's daily salt consumption came from such foods.
He said: "The fact that the salt in one can of baked beans, or a pizza, can vary so dramatically indicates that manufacturers can reduce the amount of salt they add to these products."
High intakes of salt have been linked to an increased risk of heart disease. The FSA wants to reduce salt consumption among adults from the average 9.5g a day to 6g by 2010.
