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Comment by TillE | Hacker News Reader

I've recently been cutting back on salt, and it's crazy how difficult that is. Even something seemingly benign like a bag of mixed frozen vegetables has so much salt added, a few hundred grams (a reasonable portion) would be almost my entire daily sodium intake. And for all that, it doesn't even taste well seasoned.

Gotta be careful and stick with the frozen vegetables which have nothing added.

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"Even something seemingly benign like a bag of mixed frozen vegetables has so much salt added"

Have literally never experienced this except if it's something that's meant to be ready to eat or is a base mix with its own seasoning. Is it a US thing?

It is a US thing. Sugar and salt in things most of the rest of the world couldn't imagine having sugar and salt added

This is bullshit. Rows and rows of frozen vegetables in every grocery store have nothing added. No salt, no sugar.

You need to get pre-seasoned/ready-to-eat "20 minute dinner" trash to find added salt and sugar.

Indeed, the basic frozen vegetables I checked at Walmart [1] look fine.

Previously, people have said canned tomatoes have added salt in the US [2], which they don't tend to have in Europe [3] (choosing the basic, cheap brand in both cases).

[1] https://www.walmart.com/browse/food/frozen-vegetables/976759...

[2] https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Petite-Diced-Tomatoes...

[3] https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/299768716

I think the above is only possible if they're getting vegetables with sauce in the bag. There is some salt in the vegetables themselves, of course, but it hasn't been added.

it depends what you buy. most canned food and frozen food comes in pretty close to raw versions and seasoned versions without much change to the packaging or labeling unless you read the details

I've definitely noticed this.

As a kid we ate mostly natural food, as my parents had a decent sized farm. We always had salt on the table, and went through a lot of it.

As an adult without a farm, I cannot remember the last time I even touched the salt shaker. I've actually made spaghetti once that was near inedible because the sodium in the sauce, cheeses, and meat made it incredibly salty tasting.

You're in the US I assume? That wouldn't fly in the UK. It's also terrifying that it's considered normal over there!

I gave up sugar in my coffee ~4 teasoons a day without any problems, but salt I am finding is more difficult to avoid.

How much salt do you put in your coffee?

Probably a bit to counteract the bitterness they were trying to avoid with the sugar

> Gotta be careful and stick with the frozen vegetables which have nothing added.

How about fresh vegetables?

Frozen veggies keep better (provided your freezer keeps working) so there's less risk of waste, and, depending on what they are, may taste better than commonly-available fresh varieties.

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