Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and eating way too many snags.
New research shows ‘Strayans scoff down a whopping 1.1 billion saussies a year, with nearly half our recommended daily salt intake contained in a single sausage with a lashing of tomato sauce in bread.
Before your scream fair shake of the sauce bottle, health experts reckon these levels of sodium could be killing us, albeit deliciously.
Today the George Institute for Global Health released the results of a study that analysed the salt level in more than 1,000 processed meats from Australia’s four major supermarkets from 2010 to 2017.
They found that while some meats had reduced in salt levels over that time, there had been no changes in sausages. When you consider the fact that the average Aussie eats 44 sausages a year (totalling 16 teaspoons of salt), that’s a worry.
“This is of huge concern because it is putting our health at risk,” public health nutritionist and lead author, Clare Farrand, told ABC.
The George Institute found that large differences in the levels of salt in supermarket sausages, with the saltiest containing 2.9g of salt per 100g. The least salty varieties packed just 0.8g, showing that saus merchants can (and should) be making the blessed meat sacks with less salt.
“Currently there are no salt targets for sausages … We know that everybody enjoys a sausage occasionally and we’re not by any means telling people not to eat sausages — we are encouraging people to check the label and try and choose the lower-salt option,” Ms Farrand said.
The research comes mere months after another Australian study found men were eating twice as much salt as they should be.
Health experts recommend subbing in other foodstuffs, like chicken and veggies skewers, to make your Sunday BBQ a little less salty.
That’s a great idea and all, but Bunnings if you’re reading this, don’t you go getting any crazy ideas. Your snags are worth every gram of the good stuff and we saltute you.
Image: AAP Image / Mick Tsikas
