Top 15 Salt Bombs in the American Diet

It's no secret Americans love salt. Nearly 90% of us consume more than is recommended for a healthy diet. A new study finds that 15 foods make up the majority of our salt intake. Topping the list is pizza, accounting for 5.3% of total dietary intake. Bread, rolls, and buns come in second at 4.7%, followed closely by cold cuts and cured meats at 4.6%.

Soups, burritos, tacos, savory snacks, and poultry registered between 4% and 4.4%. Rounding out the list of salt bombs are cheese, pasta mixed dishes, burgers, meat mix dishes, cookies, brownies, cakes, bacon, hot dogs, sausages, vegetables, and chicken nuggets.

Researchers studied the dietary habits of more than 7,000 people to come up with this list and found, "The top 15 food category contributors to dietary sodium represent just over 50% of total dietary sodium intake for American adults."

Consuming too much salt is a risk factor for high blood pressure and heart disease. However, the authors say education and food labeling campaigns are having little impact. They suggest that identifying the top salt sources may help us develop new programs to reduce sodium intake.