Salt: It’s Organic?

By : | Comments Off on Salt: It’s Organic? | On : May 23, 2012 | Category : General Information, Health Benefits, Sodium

Organic foods have increased in popularity as consumers become more concerned about the additives in their foods. The United States Food & Drug Administration maintains a list of over 65,000 approved additives.

When you buy organically grown fresh fruits and vegetables you expect them to be free of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and healthier for you. But that doesn’t hold true for many organic processed foods. Food industry lobbyists convinced the U.S. Congress that added salt was organic. After all salt is minimally processed. Congress agreed.

Organic soups, even celebrity chef endorsed soups, can have s much sodium as nonorganic canned soups. Organic broths can be higher in sodium than nonorganic broths made by the same company.

Tomato sauce is low calorie, healthy alternative to cream sauces and a good source of vitamins A and C. But a nationally distributed “Premium Organic” canned tomato sauce has 340mg of sodium per one-quarter cup serving. By comparison, a major brand of nonorganic bottled tomato sauce has 320mg of sodium per one-half cup serving. That’s less than half the sodium.

If you are on a low sodium diet or concerned about reducing the amount of sodium in your diet beware of processed organic products. The label my boast it’s all natural without preservatives and artificial ingredients, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good for you.