salt...

[jane1995]

it says that the maximum salt intake for a 6-12 month old is 1g per day, on the packet of ham it says it contains 0.50g.. does this mean it contains half th emaximum daily amount? or is it meant to say 0.1g is the daily maximum amount therefore the ham would be 50x the maximum? stressed

It is quite conceivable that a slice of ham has half a baby's recommended maximum allowance of salt in it, yes.

That's why we don't feed processed meat to our young children. Why would you assume the nutritional guidelines are wrong rather than your choice of baby food?

Or is the issue that you don't understand the maths?

0.5g is half of 1g. If a slice of ham contained 0.5g of salt, two slices would be within the daily limit, if the daily limit is 1g.

Sorry if I'm teaching you to suck eggs ...

actually if you read properly I didnt assume that the national guidelines are wrong at all I was simply confused weather 0.50 was half. and as for you implying that im purposely feeding my baby unhealthy things, my health visitor told me that packets of ham and chicken are a good thing to give for lunch if in a rush (which I don't often do!). Im usually very healthy with him but I thaught this wouldnt harm as a one off, keep your stuck up comments to yourself next time. & anythingnoteverything ive never been good at maths I know 0.5 is half but I was just confused wether 0.50 is the same as 0.5

Wow, Doingit, that's one of the most condescending posts I've ever read. What's your problem?!

Sorry OP, nothing useful to say about the salt as I don't know but I found it really stressful and confusing weaning my DS so totally understand your confusion.

Luckily most people are more helpful...

I remember when my DCs were babies and I would spend bloody hours mashing and mincing meat and vegetables, cooking separate pans of bolognese for them with no flavour stock because everywhere I looked was information telling me that babies shouldn't eat salt. There was a child in the news who had died from being weaned on mash and gravy.

It just astounds me that someone could have no idea that salty food and babies is a bad combination.

Sorry for coming across as patronising, there are so many goody threads on here at the moment that I have lost any tolerance for daft posts.

Yes, 0.50 is the same as 0.5, and also the same as 0.5000000. The final zeroes are unnecessary. The packaging should be clearer IMO.

I hope you don't think I was being patronising - I know labelling can be complex and we all want to do the best by our babies.

I know that too much salt is bad and im very careful as he has an autoimmune dissorder which can lead to kidney problems, the only things ive gave him so far are organic fruit and veg, or weetabix or porrige because I want to stear clear of salty products, this was just one slip up cause the HV said I need to be giving meat most of all for the iron, but yeah I just had difficulty working it out thats all because I didnt know wether 0.50g is over 1g tharefore I thaught if give him way more than the maximum, im just terrible at maths thats all!

Something to watch out for with nutritional information is that usually a packet will give it both per portion and then again per 100g. Per portion is useful if it's eg. a slice of ham or a sausage, but not very helpful if it's eg. a bowl of cereal because your bowls are probably a different size.

As a rule of thumb I tend to reckon that food which has 1g of salt or more per 100g of food is pretty salty, and try not to give that too often.

However, there are several factors to account for when deciding what to feed your baby, and low salt intake is only one of them. As your HV says, iron is really important and meat is a great way to get that. My DD has found processed meat like pre-sliced ham and sausages easier to eat than say a home roast. So don't be too scared to use his salt allowance in a good cause (but don't go over it).

The other thing that can be confusing with salt levels is whether it's the amount of salt per 100g or the amount of sodium per 100g that is listed on the packet.

0.4g of sodium is the same as 1g of salt.

DoingIt: I didn't think OP's post was daft at all. She was asking for help on an important aspect of baby care that she was a bit unclear about, and I think that's very sensible of her.

Just to say also watch out for bread - a slice can easily have 0.3g of salt...

I know the labelling on food these days is a nightmare! & thanks everyone for the responses, feel alot more at ease now x