Hold That Hidden Salt!

As more people try to avoid the damaging effects of too much salt in their diets, they discover the high -- often excessive -- levels of hidden salt in supermarket packaged foods. Whether it's breakfast cereal, ketchup, soup, soft drinks or muffins, food manufacturers pack way more salt than is healthy into the foods they make. In fact, salt hidden in these items are a far greater source of salt/sodium than salt added in recipes or at the table. Maureen Tilley, author of last year's successful healthy cookbook Hold the Salt!, is back with great ideas about how to hold the hidden salt. She takes on 40 supermarket standards, including all the most popular items where Canadians get the bulk of their salt. She offers easy, quick and tasty alternatives that make holding the salt a delicious and appealing idea. More than a third of adult Canadians over 50 are on medication for high blood pressure, and reducing salt/sodium is a proven strategy to bring it down. A high percentage of youngsters regularly eat packaged foods with dangerously high levels of salt. The Canadian government is dragging its heels when it comes to regulating food manufacturers' use of salt, even though it's been done in many other countries. So here, more than anywhere else, we need Maureen Tilley's great new book.