Three quarters of pre-packaged loaves of supermarket bread contain as much salt or more per slice than a packet of ready salted crisps, a survey has found.
Action on Salt looked at 242 store-bought loaves of sliced bread from 28 companies that were sold at 10 of the UK's largest supermarkets and found three in four had equivalent amounts or more salt than the 0.34g found in a bag of crisps.
The saltiest was a Hovis White loaf with Starter Dough, which contained 1.48g of salt per 100g of bread. This was almost three times the amount of the least salty loaf (Waitrose Rye and Wheat Dark Sourdough) with 0.51g.
Too much salt can increase the risk of high blood pressure, which affects nearly a third of adults in England.
Someone eating a couple of slices of Hovis Soft White Extra Thick bread, for example, would be consuming a fifth of their maximum recommended daily salt intake.
Action on Salt now wants the government to set compulsory salt reduction targets.
Responding to the survey, Hovis said: "Over the last 20 years, Hovis has been actively reducing the levels of salt in its products, with the data provided by Action on Salt confirming this notable reduction over time.