London, (March 4)Eating excessive salty bread could increase blood pressure and may put heart at a greater risk, according to a latest study that recommended avoiding bread with more than 1.1g of salt per 100g.

Researchers from the Consensus Action on Salt and Health, a pressure group in Britain, surveyed 138 widely available loaves.

They found that more than one in three contained salt levels above the government’s target of 1.1g per 100g, reported the online edition of Daily Mail.

The highest level was found in Morrison’s The Best Farmhouse Malted Bread, which had a salt level of 1.5g per 100g or 0.7g per slice.

Just over four slices would put a child of six over the maximum daily recommended salt intake of 3g. Nine slices would take someone over the adult threshold of 6g.

The second highest salt reading was found in several Asda loaves, which had a level of 0.6g per slice. Eating just five slices of these would put a child over the recommended limit.

A total of 15 out of 18 Warburton products had a salt content higher than the government’s target, while all of Sainsbury’s and Waitrose breads surveyed were below the level.

“This research shows that despite some progress in reducing salt levels in bread, there remain wide variations in how much is contained across similar products,” a spokesman for the British Heart Foundation, Ruairi O’Connor, said.

“The BHF would like all breads to contain as little salt as possible, in order to reduce the nation’s salt intake.

“People who are at risk of heart disease caused by high blood pressure need to reduce salt in their diets, and need to be able to quickly and accurately choose lower salt options when shopping.”

The organisation has called for the industry to adopt the traffic light labelling system developed by the Food Standards Agency. This uses red, amber and green logos to tell shoppers whether products are high, medium or low in salt, sugar and fat. (IANS)