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Sodium and salt: the daily reference intake
This is the one entry on this site where the published number is a ceiling, not a goal. EFSA 2019 assessment puts 2.0 grams of sodium a day — 5 grams of salt — as safe and adequate for adults. The World Health Organization recommendation is the same: less than 5 g of salt a day.
These are published population reference values, not a diagnosis and not a prescription. A reference intake describes what covers a healthy group; it cannot tell you your own status, and no page can. Pregnancy, chronic illness, medicines and malabsorption all change the picture — take those questions to a doctor, midwife, pharmacist or dietitian.
Sodium and salt by age, sex and life stage
EFSA set lower values for children, scaled down from the adult figure in proportion to energy needs. Those child figures are not reproduced here.
| Group | Reference value | Type | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men 19-50 | 5 g salt | SAI | equals 2.0 g of sodium |
| Women 19-50 | 5 g salt | SAI | equals 2.0 g of sodium |
| Men 51 and over | 5 g salt | SAI | equals 2.0 g of sodium |
| Women 51 and over | 5 g salt | SAI | equals 2.0 g of sodium |
| Adults 65 and over | 5 g salt | SAI | equals 2.0 g of sodium |
| Pregnancy | 5 g salt | SAI | no increase in pregnancy |
| Breastfeeding | 5 g salt | SAI | no increase while breastfeeding |
Sodium, salt and the factor of 2.5
Salt is sodium chloride, and sodium is about 40 per cent of it by weight. To convert, multiply sodium by 2.5 to get salt, or divide salt by 2.5 to get sodium. So 2.0 g of sodium is 5.0 g of salt, and the 6 g of salt on a European label is 2.4 g of sodium.
Labels in the EU declare salt, not sodium, precisely because the two numbers were being confused. A pack quoting "sodium" is either non-EU or is doing something unusual; check which unit you are reading before comparing.
Why 5 g of salt, and why almost nobody hits it
EFSA 2019 opinion is built on the relationship between sodium intake and blood pressure, and blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. It concluded that 2.0 g of sodium a day is both safe and adequate for adults — enough for physiological need, and below the level where the blood-pressure effect becomes a public-health problem.
Actual intakes across Europe run well above it. The reason is not the salt cellar: most dietary salt arrives already inside bread, cured and processed meat, cheese, ready meals, soups and sauces. That is why the food table below is more useful than a rule about cooking, and why national salt-reduction programmes target manufacturers rather than kitchens.
The label percentage is not a target either
Annex XIII of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 sets the labelling reference intake for salt at 6 g a day. A pack showing "30% RI" for salt means 1.8 g of salt in that portion. Because the EFSA and WHO figures are 5 g, a product that fills your whole 6 g label allowance has already taken you past both of them.
One exception worth naming
People who sweat heavily for hours — endurance athletes, some outdoor and industrial workers — lose sodium in quantity, and a few clinical conditions and medicines change sodium handling entirely. Sodium restriction is also sometimes prescribed, and sometimes explicitly not. If a clinician has given you a figure, theirs is the one that applies to you.
The upper level
EFSA did not set a classic tolerable upper intake level for sodium. Instead its 2019 opinion defined 2.0 g of sodium a day — 5 g of salt — as safe and adequate for adults, a value that functions as a ceiling rather than a target.
Ordinary food against the 5 g salt safe and adequate intake
Everything below is measured against the 5 g salt safe and adequate intake, which is a ceiling rather than a goal. The share column says how much of the whole day this one portion uses up.
| Food | Ordinary portion | Per portion | Share of the day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cottage cheese | a small tub, 150 g | 1.16 g salt | 23% |
| Lentils | a portion, cooked, 180 g | 1.07 g salt | 21% |
| Canned sockeye salmon | half a tin, 100 g | 1.02 g salt | 20% |
| Canned tuna | a small tin, drained, 100 g | 0.618 g salt | 12% |
| Rye bread | 1 slice, 35 g | 0.528 g salt | 11% |
| Cheddar cheese | 2 slices, 30 g | 0.49 g salt | 10% |
| Sardines | half a tin, 60 g | 0.461 g salt | 9% |
| Liverwurst spread | on one slice of bread, 25 g | 0.438 g salt | 9% |
| White bread | 1 slice, 30 g | 0.367 g salt | 7% |
| Multi-grain bread | 1 slice, 35 g | 0.334 g salt | 7% |
| Chicken thigh | a thigh, 120 g | 0.318 g salt | 6% |
| Ground beef | a portion, 120 g | 0.256 g salt | 5% |
Portion sizes are ordinary household servings chosen for this table, not official reference portions, and the shortlist is an editorial one: everyday foods eaten in this region rather than the highest per-100 g entries in the database. A raw per-100 g ranking would be topped by dried herbs, drink powders and fortified breakfast cereals, which answers a different question. The composition data is American, so where US fortification practice differs from European practice the row carries a dagger and the reason. For the full per-100 g ranking of a nutrient, the food-data section of this site publishes one.
Sources: EFSA Dietary Reference Values · Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII · USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy (food composition) · EFSA scientific opinion on dietary reference values for sodium (2019) · World Health Organization guideline on sodium intake for adults and children · Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex XIII · checked 2026-09-06
Frequently asked questions
How much salt per day is safe?
EFSA 2019 assessment puts 2.0 g of sodium — 5 g of salt — a day as safe and adequate for adults. The World Health Organization recommends less than 5 g of salt a day for adults.
How do I convert sodium to salt?
Multiply sodium by 2.5. 1 g of sodium is 2.5 g of salt; 2 g of sodium is 5 g of salt.
Why does the packet say 6 g?
Because 6 g of salt is the labelling reference intake in Annex XIII of EU Regulation 1169/2011. It is the denominator every EU label uses, and it sits above both the EFSA and the WHO figures.
See your own numbers, not the population average
TempoLife logs what you eat and adds it up, so you can compare a real week against the reference intake on this page instead of guessing.