American Food Contains Too Much Salt and Sodium: CDC

A new study from CDC shows that most Americans exceed recommended daily intake of salt, increasing risk of heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancers.

According to UPI, the study found that nearly 90 percent Americans do not adhere to recommendations, while more than 2,000 packaged food products exceed recommended sodium levels. Among the foods the study listed include pizza, pasta and meat mixed foods as containing higher than recommended amounts of sodium per serving. More packaged foods in the pacific region than other regions were found to have lesser compliance with recommendations.

Meat-mixed foods were found to be less compliant than other foods. The higher content of salt in foods is to ensure a longer shelf life.

"More than 70% of pizzas, pasta mixed dishes, and meat mixed dishes and 50% to 70% of cold cuts, soups, and sandwiches exceeded FDA 'healthy' labeling standards for sodium, whereas less than 10% of breads, savory snacks, and cheeses did," the CDC study found while noting

"Excess sodium intake is a major preventable risk factor for hypertension. More than 90% of US adults consume more sodium than recommended."

Avoiding processed foods and eating home-cooked foods is only the most certain way to cut sodium intake, health experts recommend. However for people managing work and family, processed foods may not be completely avoidable.