Mardi Joughin loses her sweet disposition when she talks about the dangers of unnecessary salt in processed foods.

When the retired nurse and grandmother of two recently read the label of an instant noodle product marketed at children, she was horrified to discover that the salt content was 110 percent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for adults who weigh approximately 150 pounds.

"My granddaughters are aged 16 months and 22 months. What would be the RDA percentage for them, I wonder. Maybe up to 800 percent," she points out.

Excess salt is thought to be responsible for about 30 percent of the five million cases of high blood pressure in Canada, 14 percent of strokes and nine percent of heart attacks. High blood pressure is also a major risk factor for kidney disease.

"How much salt we need for good health is probably close to the natural salt content of unprocessed food, about 0.5 grams (500 milligrams) per day," notes a February 2009 Canadian Medical Association Journal editorial. "Instead, the average person in industrialized countries consumes about 10 g (1.5 teaspoons) daily, about 75 percent of which is from processed food."

The daily upper intake level of sodium for children aged one to three is 1.5 to 2.2 grams, and the maximum tolerable limit for people aged 14 or older is 2.3 grams. However, a recent Statistics Canada study revealed that 77 percent of children, 85 percent of men and 60 percent of women exceed these levels.

Joughin, an avid label reader, encourages others-particularly parents-to do the same. "It's a crime that these products are on shelves without a red flag on them," she says. "Children's kidneys and general health are in danger."

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