SalTrax Blog

* You really need to become a Salt Detective, especially when it is hidden in prepared foods like Pasta / Spaghetti Sauce. And just when you think that an item labeled "healthy" must be lower in sodium, think again. "Healthy" may refer to fat content and completely overlook the sodium level.

* When you look at a few prepared Pasta / Spaghetti sauces (see the table below), you can see that the serving size listed is often 1/2 cup. One serving of a popular prepared pasta sauce (Prego) labeled "100% Natural" has 580 milligrams (mg) of sodium (6 SalTrax Points)! This is 1/4 of your recommended daily intake (if your salt restriction is less than 2,400 mg / day, then it is even more of your daily allowance). There is no reason to add this much sodium to pasta sauce!

*Instead of buying this type of prepared sauce, there are many lower sodium tasty options. I buy and highly recommend the "No Added Salt" prepared Organic Marinara sauce from Trader Joe's (also low in fat). It has only 25 mg sodium per 1/2 cup (0 SalTrax Points) and just 1% of the recommended daily intake - that is quite a big difference and it even tastes better. If you don't have a Trader Joe's nearby, most major grocery stores carry No Added Salt chopped tomatoes (which are great on pasta with chopped basil) or No Added Salt prepared Pasta / Spaghetti Sauce.

*PLEASE READ LABELS CAREFULLY for the exact milligrams of sodium per serving - food manufacturers are very good at using terms that sound like it may be a good buy, but may still have a lot of sodium (be careful with terms such as "25% less sodium" or "lowered sodium"). And remember, if you eat 2 servings of the sauce, then you will have to double the amount of sodium you are eating. With the lower calories, fat, and sodium in the Trader Joe's Organic Marinara sauce, 2 servings will not create as much of a problem for you as the Prego (see below

Per 1/2 cup

Trader Joe's Organic Marinara Sauce:
Calories - 50
Sodium - 25 mg
Fat - 0.5 g
Carbs - 11 g

Prego 100% Natural Italian Sauce (Traditional):
Calories - 120
Sodium - 580 mg
Fat - 3.5 g
Carbs - 19 g

*And speaking of Italian food, Capers are used in sauces to add flavor, however they also add quite a large helping of sodium in such a small quantity of food (1 Tablespoon has about 250 mg of sodium). If you want to spice up your sauce, try adding a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar instead - it has zero mg of sodium!

Buon Appetito!