DOI: 10.5061/dryad.hdr7sqvj2
title: Cross-sectional comparisons of sodium content in processed meat and fish products among five countries - potential for feasible targets and reformulation

description: ABSTRACT Introduction: Reducing sodium intake has been identified as a highly cost-effective strategy to prevent and control of high blood pressure and reduce cardiovascular mortality. This study aims to compare the sodium content in processed meat and fish products among five countries, which will contribute to the evidence-base for feasible strategies of sodium reduction in such products. Methods: Sodium content on product labels of 26500 prepackaged products, 19601 meat and 6899 fish, was collected in supermarkets from five countries using the FoodSwitch mobile application from 2012 to 2018. To be specific, it was 1898 products in China, 885 in the United Kingdom (UK), 5673 in Australia, 946 in South Africa and 17998 in the United States (US). Cross-sectional comparisons of sodium levels and proportions meeting 2017 UK sodium reduction targets were conducted using Kruskal-Wallis H and the Chi-Square test respectively across the five countries. Results: The results showed that processed meat and fish products combined in China had the highest sodium level (median 1050mg/100g, interquartile range [IQR]: 774-1473), followed by the US, South Africa, Australia, with the lowest levels found in UK (432mg/100g, IQR: 236-786) (p&lt;0.001). Similar variations, i.e. a 2-3-fold difference of sodium content between the highest and the lowest countries were found among processed meat and fish products separately. Large sodium content variations were also found in certain specific food subcategories across the five countries, as well as across different food subcategories within each country. Conclusion: Processed meat and fish products differ greatly in sodium content across different countries and across different food subcategories. This indicates great potential for food producers to reformulate the products in sodium content, as well as for consumers to select less salted food. Keywords: sodium, sodium reduction, processed foods, food reformulation, Food Switch --
description: Sodium content on product labels of 26500 prepackaged products, 19601 meat and 6899 fish, was collected in supermarkets from five countries using the FoodSwitch mobile application from 2012 to 2018. To be specific, it was 1898 products in China, 885 in the United Kingdom (UK), 5673 in Australia, 946 in South Africa and 17098 in the United States (US). Cross-sectional comparisons of sodium levels and proportions meeting 2017 UK sodium reduction targets were conducted using Kruskal-Wallis H and the Chi-Square test respectively across the five countries.
description: README-Data Cleaning set more off, permanently clear all cap log close macro def datadir C:\Users\KH\Desktop\NEWDATA\Data macro def labeling "C:\Users\KH\Desktop\NEWDATA\Data\dofile\labeling.do" cd "C:\Users\KH\Desktop\NEWDATA\Data" *========================================== * Import Raw Data for Australia *========================================== import excel using "Raw Data for Australia.xlsx",firstrow clear //N=8554 rename *, lower tostring productid, replace rename sodiummgper100ml sodium codebook sodium //Find Missing Values drop if sodium ==. //Delete Missing Values N=2175 duplicates tag productid ,gen(dup) sort productid list productid if dup==1 duplicates drop productid,force //There is no duplicate product code duplicates tag productname sodium,gen(dup1) sort productname sodium list productname sodium if dup1==1 duplicates drop productname sodium,force //Delete duplicate values N=706 duplicates report productname sodium duplicates tag productname sodium, gen(dup2) sort productname sodium list productname sodium if dup2==1 drop dup2 //Check duplicate values, no duplicate values codebook sodium sum sodium,detail *ssc install winsor2,replace *winsor2 sodium,replace cuts(1 99) //异常值缩尾（未执行） *winsor2 sodium,replace cuts(1 99)trim //异常值删除(未执行) *sum salt,detail *codebook sodium *drop if sodium ==. *====================================== * Import Raw Data for SA *====================================== cd "C:\Users\KH\Desktop\NEWDATA\Data" import excel using "Raw Data for SA.xlsx",firstrow clear //N=1315 rename *, lower tostring productid, replace rename sodiummgper100ml sodium codebook sodium //Find Missing Values drop if sodium ==. //Delete Missing Values N=308 duplicates tag productid ,gen(dup) sort productid list productid if dup==1 duplicates drop productid,force //There is no duplicate product code duplicates tag productname sodium,gen(dup1) sort productname sodium list productname sodium if dup1==1 duplicates drop productname sodium,force //Delete duplicate values N=61 duplicates report productname sodium duplicates tag productname sodium, gen(dup2) sort productname sodium list productname sodium if dup2==1 drop dup2 //Check duplicate values, no duplicate values codebook sodium sum sodium,detail *ssc install winsor2,replace *winsor2 sodium,replace cuts(1 99) //异常值缩尾（未执行） *winsor2 sodium,replace cuts(1 99)trim //异常值删除(未执行) *sum salt,detail *codebook sodium *drop if sodium ==. *====================================== * Import Raw Data for USA *====================================== cd "C:\Users\KH\Desktop\NEWDATA\Data" import excel using "Raw Data for USA.xlsx",firstrow clear //N=20980 rename *, lower tostring productid, replace rename sodiummgper100ml sodium codebook sodium //Find Missing Values drop if sodium ==. //Delete Missing Values N=69 duplicates tag productid ,gen(dup) sort productid list productid if dup==1 duplicates drop productid,force //There is no duplicate product code duplicates tag productname sodium,gen(dup1) sort productname sodium list productname sodium if dup1==1 duplicates drop productname sodium,force //Delete duplicate values N=3813 duplicates report productname sodium duplicates tag productname sodium, gen(dup2) sort productname sodium list productname sodium if dup2==1 drop dup2 //Check duplicate values, no duplicate values codebook sodium sum sodium,detail *ssc install winsor2,replace *winsor2 sodium,replace cuts(1 99) //异常值缩尾（未执行） *winsor2 sodium,replace cuts(1 99)trim //异常值删除(未执行) *sum salt,detail *codebook sodium *drop if sodium ==. *========================================== * Import Raw Data for China *========================================== cd "C:\Users\KH\Desktop\NEWDATA\Data" import excel using "Raw Data for China.xlsx",firstrow clear //N=2219 rename *, lower tostring productid, replace rename sodiummgper100ml sodium codebook sodium //Find Missing Values drop if sodium ==. //Delete Missing Values N=0 duplicates tag productid ,gen(dup) sort productid list productid if dup==1 duplicates drop productid,force //There is no duplicate product code duplicates tag productname sodium,gen(dup1) sort productname sodium list productname sodium if dup1==1 duplicates drop productname sodium,force //Delete duplicate values N=321 duplicates report productname sodium duplicates tag productname sodium, gen(dup2) sort productname sodium list productname sodium if dup2==1 drop dup2 //Check duplicate values, no duplicate values codebook sodium sum sodium,detail *ssc install winsor2,replace *winsor2 sodium,replace cuts(1 99) //异常值缩尾（未执行） *winsor2 sodium,replace cuts(1 99)trim //异常值删除(未执行) *sum salt,detail *codebook sodium *drop if sodium ==. *========================================== * Import Raw Data for UK *========================================== cd "C:\Users\KH\Desktop\NEWDATA\Data" import excel using "Raw Data for UK.xlsx",firstrow clear //N=887 rename *, lower tostring productid, replace rename sodiummgper100ml sodium codebook sodium //Find Missing Values drop if sodium ==. //Delete Missing Values N=0 duplicates tag productid ,gen(dup) sort productid list productid if dup==1 duplicates drop productid,force //There is no duplicate product code duplicates tag productname sodium,gen(dup1) sort productname sodium list productname sodium if dup1==1 duplicates drop productname sodium,force //Delete duplicate values N=2 duplicates report productname sodium duplicates tag productname sodium, gen(dup2) sort productname sodium list productname sodium if dup2==1 drop dup2 //Check duplicate values, no duplicate values codebook sodium sum sodium,detail *ssc install winsor2,replace *winsor2 sodium,replace cuts(1 99) //异常值缩尾（未执行） *winsor2 sodium,replace cuts(1 99)trim //异常值删除(未执行) *sum salt,detail *codebook sodium *drop if sodium ==. README-Data Analysis