Is Pesto High In Salt?

Pesto contains, on average, 1% salt. That's not enough for it to be labelled a "high salt" food, but it is enough for the government to recommend that it be eaten in moderation as part of a balanced diet.

Pestos that are saltier than the sea

"Now pesto's terrible for us too," screamed the Metro newspaper in 2017, reacting to Consensus Action on Salt and Health's press release claiming some pestos were "30% saltier than seawater."

Why does that matter? Despite salt being an essential mineral that our bodies need a little bit of to function correctly, the British Heart Foundation advises that excessive salt consumption can have numerous negative health impacts. This includes high blood pressure, heart disease, hypertension, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, and stomach cancer. In a nutshell, regularly overeating salt could be catastrophic for your long-term health.

The regulations designed to reduce our salt consumption

If you've wondered why your favourite bag of crisps is no longer displayed on aisle ends at your local supermarket, you have the government's "High Fat, Salt, and Sugar" (HFSS) regulations to thank. Oh, and Boris Johnson, who decided he was too fat and therefore the nation needed to lose weight.

To be fair, The Liar's plan to crack down on junk food promotion and improve the nation's health was long overdue, considering the spiralling levels of obesity. There is little doubt that the HFSS initiative has honourable aims, and where it succeeds most is in making people aware of the amount of salt they are consuming without even realising it.

Pesto joins Italian hams and cheeses as having unhealthy levels of salt.

Like almost every government food policy, though, it is deeply flawed due to its lack of nuance. This is one of the reasons a group of Italian delegates at the EU Council of Ministers in 2013 took issue with so many of their greatest exports, including their salty hams and cheeses, being labelled "unhealthy" despite the Mediterranean diet being regarded as the best in the world.

Government guidelines must be understandable to the masses, but they too often miss the mark. Very few people truly understand the intricacies of the 5-a-day concept, and if you tell most people to "eat the rainbow," they'll probably reach for the Skittles.

It is true that we consume too much fat, salt, and sugar as a nation, but simply labelling these as bogeymen is dangerously simplistic.

Take sugar, for instance. "Diet" drinks contain lab-manufactured, artificial sweeteners that the World Health Organisation has warned could increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Studies have also shown that, rather than helping people lose weight, these drinks do the opposite. Why? Because they trick the brain into wanting to eat more when the "promise" of calories from a sugar fix never materialises. But because they don't contain sugar, they are classified as "healthy," and that's a desperately flawed message.

The Department of Health's Nutrient Profiling (NP) identifies which foods you should and shouldn't be eating regularly. A points-based system based on traffic lights was implemented as a crude but easily understandable way to make the public more aware of what they eat.

In the case of salt, any food with under 0.3% salt is a class swot and earns a green light. Any food containing 0.3% - 1.5% salt is a middle-of-the-road student who gets an amber light. Meanwhile, anything over 1.5% salt is the fat kid at the back of the class who's been dealt a red card.

Most pesto sauces are classified as containing "high" levels of salt.

Despite some pestos having shockingly high levels of salt (5.1% in the case of the worst offender), most pestos you find for sale in the UK contain approximately 1% salt. That places them slap bang in the middle amber bracket, meaning they should be eaten in moderation as part of a balanced diet.

The salt content of pesto must be seen in context.

However, just looking at the percentage of salt in a food is pointless if you’re not also considering how much of it you are going to be consuming. Take, for instance, our recommended serving size of 50g of pesto, which is 1% salt. You'll be sitting down to eat 0.5g of salt. To put that in perspective, adults are advised to eat no more than 6g salt daily, so you still have over 90% of your daily salt allowance left. Does that sound like it deserves an amber light to scare you into a "healthier" alternative?

What you are serving your pesto with makes a massive difference to the overall salt content of your meal. If you plan to pair your pesto with something like pancetta or anchovies, you will consume far more "hidden" salt than if you were pairing your sauce with something like tofu or chicken breast. The. The saltiness of your pasta water can make a substantial difference, too. Those who say pasta should be cooked in water 'as salty as the sea' will consume far more salt than someone who only lightly seasons their cooking water. This is why we are firm believers that context is everything.