Costa Rican Institute of Research and Teaching in Nutrition and Health (INCIENSA), Tres Ríos Box 4-2250, Costa Rica.
Faculty of Health Sciences, Ontario Tech University (University of Ontario Institute of Technology), 2000 Simcoe St N, Oshawa, ON L1H 7K4, Canada.
Nutrients. 2019 Sep 15;11(9):2226. doi: 10.3390/nu11092226.
High blood pressure is a leading cause of death in Costa Rica, with an estimated mortality rate of 30%. The average household sodium intake is two times higher than the World Health Organization recommendation. The consumption of processed foods is an important and growing contributor to sodium intake. The objective of this study was to describe the sodium content of packaged foods (mg/100 g) sold in Costa Rica in 2015 ( = 1158) and 2018 ( = 1016) and to assess their compliance with the national sodium reduction targets. All 6 categories with national targets were analyzed: condiments, cookies and biscuits, bread products, processed meats, bakery products, and sauces. A significant reduction in mean sodium content was found in only 3 of the 19 subcategories (cakes, tomato-based sauces, and tomato paste). No subcategories had statistically significant increases in mean sodium levels, but seasonings for sides/mains, ham, and sausage categories were at least 15% higher in sodium. Compliance with the national sodium targets among all foods increased from 80% in 2015 to 87% in 2018. The results demonstrate that it is feasible to reduce the sodium content in packaged foods in Costa Rica, but more work is needed to continually support a gradual reduction of sodium in packaged foods, including more stringent sodium targets.
高血压是哥斯达黎加的主要死亡原因之一，死亡率估计为 30%。平均家庭钠摄入量是世界卫生组织建议的两倍。加工食品的消费是导致钠摄入量增加的一个重要且日益增长的因素。本研究的目的是描述 2015 年（=1158 种）和 2018 年（=1016 种）在哥斯达黎加销售的包装食品（mg/100g）的钠含量，并评估其对国家减少钠摄入量目标的遵守情况。对所有 6 个具有国家目标的类别进行了分析：调味品、饼干和薄脆饼干、面包产品、加工肉类、烘焙产品和酱汁。仅在 19 个亚类中的 3 个（蛋糕、番茄基酱汁和番茄酱）中发现平均钠含量显著降低。没有亚类的平均钠水平有统计学意义的增加，但配菜/主菜调味料、火腿和香肠类别的钠含量至少高 15%。在所有食品中，符合国家钠目标的比例从 2015 年的 80%增加到 2018 年的 87%。结果表明，在哥斯达黎加降低包装食品中的钠含量是可行的，但需要做更多的工作来持续支持包装食品中钠含量的逐步减少，包括更严格的钠目标。
