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Sodium and salt converter

Convert the sodium listed on food products into grams of salt or vice versa.

How much salt?

Australians are eating nearly double the recommended amount. 

We recommend adults eat less than 5g of salt (2000 mg of sodium) a day to reduce your risk of high blood pressure and lower the risk of heart disease. That equals about 1 teaspoon a day.  

If you have high blood pressure, we recommend you reduce your salt intake to 4g (1600 mg sodium) per day. 

How to use this tool

This calculator converts the sodium listed on food products into grams of salt or vice versa. 

The Nutrition Information Panel on a packaged food product in Australia has a ‘per serve’ column and a ‘’per 100g’ column. 

You can use the 'per 100g' column when comparing the salt contents of different foods and the ‘per serve’ column when trying to understand how much salt you have consumed

Healthy eating tip

While you need to watch the salt content of some foods, it’s important to look at the food as a whole rather than deciding on one nutrient alone. Don’t forget to check the energy (kJ), sugar and saturated fat content too to make sure you are making the best choice and try to base your diet around core foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds that are naturally low in salt. 

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