LCC Broadcast News Room

Grabbing a quick healthy pot of soup for lunch may not be as good for you as you think.

A report by the Consensus Action on Salt and Health found that many of the fresh soup options available on the high street contain dangerous levels of salt.

The government's Food Standards Agency has recommended we should have no more than 6 grams of salt every day.  Despite this, a report by the FSA already suggests we are eating on average around 9.1 grams.

Sandwich shops including EAT, Caffe Nero and Pret came off worse.  Many of their soups contain almost all of the salt we should be eating in one day, and in some case their soups had more than the daily recommended allowance.

EAT's large green thai chicken currey soup contained 8.1 grams of salt.  This is the same amount of salt as almost three Big Mac and fries.  In a statement EAT's Brand director Faith MacArthur said

'our largest soups are often shared and represent a tiny part of our soup sales'. 

She continued 'we have reduced salt in all our soup stocks and will continue to do so, but it needs to happen gradually so people's tastes can adjust'.   

Ten soups from EAT were found to contain more than 6grams of salt.  Portion for portion, Caffe Nero's Organic Carrot and Coriander soup faired the worse.  It contained 3.6 grams.  Below is a list of those soups with the highest and lowest salt content.

Caffe Nero issued a statement to LCC saying

'We have a variety of soups available.  The carrot and coriander soup has the highest salt content of our soups, but we also have a leek and potato soup, which only contains 1.2 grams per portion'. 

They continued 'We have been working with the Food Standards Agency in recent years, and will continue to do so, to reduce the salt content in our food products'.

The report wasn't all bad news.  Since monitoring began in 2007, the average amount of salt has declined by 17% overall.  Professor Graham MacGregor who was behind the research said 'there's increasing evidence linking salt intake with diseases such stomach cancer, osteoporosis and kidney stones, so any reduction is welcomed, but these stores still need to do more - and fast'.

To read the full report click here.