Half of Salty Snacks in Honduras Exceed Sodium Limits

Dr. Adriana Hernández-Santana, Associate Professor in the Agroindustry Department at Zamorano University, and Rocío Moncada, with support from Institute for Technology in Health Care (ITHC), studied the sodium in salty snacks (chips and seeds) sold in Honduran supermarkets. They used the nutrition labels to check how well these products meet international sodium intake recommendations.

Half of the products had too much sodium. Chips had the highest levels, far above seeds. Only a small share of products qualified as low-sodium. The study also found that no product said "low sodium" or anything similar on its label, even though some met the criteria to do so.

These findings show that Honduras needs stronger regulation and monitoring of sodium in processed foods. They also support moving toward front-of-package warning labels, like those already used in other countries in the region. The study was published in the journal Hacia la Promoción de la Salud.