A new analysis by Action on Salt & Sugar, based at Queen Mary University of London, has found salt levels in supermarket soups remain stubbornly high, despite soup’s reputation as a healthier lunchtime choice.
The group analysed 481 ready-to-eat chilled and ambient soups sold across major UK retailers and found that nearly 1 in 4 (23%) still exceeded the Government’s voluntary maximum salt target for soup, which should have been met by the end of 2024.
At the sharp end, the saltiest product was Soup Head Tom Yum Soup (1.01g/100g), containing 3.03g of salt in a 300g pack; that’s 51% of an adult’s maximum daily limit in one sitting, and more salt than two McDonald’s cheeseburgers.
Other high-salt examples included Daylesford Organic Minestrone Soup (1.0g/100g, 5.0g in a 500g packet) and Baxters Luxury Cullen Skink (0.95g/100g, 3.80g in a 400g tin). Under front-of-pack labelling guidelines, one in six (16%) soups would receive a red warning for high salt content, while just 11 products (2%) would qualify with a green label on front of pack.
Across the range, the average serving offered 1.43g of salt, and 51 products (11%) packed more than 2g in a single suggested serving, which is more than a third of an adult’s maximum limit for the day.
The group also warned that suggested serving sizes on pack can understate the real salt hit, with many brands listing a serving as 200g (half a tin), even though people are likely to eat more in one sitting.
The analysis shows a clear divide between supermarket own-label and big brands: nearly half of soups produced by manufacturers (48%) exceeded the maximum salt target, compared with just 6% of supermarket own-label products. Among individual brands, a high proportion of products in this analysis exceeded the maximum target, including Mr Organic (88% of products assessed), Heinz (68%), Daylesford Organic (40%) and Crosse & Blackwell (27%).
When put into a real-world scenario, Heinz’s market-leading soup, Cream of Tomato [5], contains 2.2g of salt in a 400g tin. When eaten with 2 slices of bread and butter, this ‘quick and healthy lunch’ can rise to 3.38g of salt [6] - making up more than half of a person’s daily salt limit within a single lunchtime meal.
As the findings show, it is entirely possible to make soup with far less salt. Substantial variation in salt content was found across soups in similar flavours, including Minestrone soups with nearly a threefold difference in salt levels. This gap proves high salt in many soups isn’t inevitable; it’s a choice, and in many cases, it’s simply unnecessary.
| Flavour | High example | salt g/400g | Low example | salt g/400g | Difference |
| Minestrone | Daylesford Organic Minestrone | 4.0 | Tesco Chunky Minestrone | 1.4 | 2.9x more |
| Pea & Ham | Bistro by Asda Pea & Ham Hock | 2.44 | Tesco Finest Petits Pois & Ham | 1.0 | 2.4x more |
| Chicken | Cully & Sully Chicken & Vegetable | 3.2 | RE:NOURISH Thrive Chicken & Vegetable | 1.6 | 2x more |
| Mushroom | Aldi Bramwell’s Cream of Mushroom | 2.4 | Sainsbury's Cream of Mushroom | 1.28 | 1.9x more |
| Carrot and Coriander | Baxter’s Vegetarian Carrot & Coriander | 2.88 | Asda Carrot & Coriander | 1.68 | 1.7x more |
| Vegetable | Aldi Bramwell’s Vegetable Soup | 2.48 | New Covent Garden Vegetable | 1.56 | 1.6x more |
| Cream of Tomato | Baxter’s Cream of Tomato | 2.4 | Sainsbury's Cream of Tomato | 1.6 | 1.5x more |
| Cream of Chicken | Aldi Bramwell’s Cream of Chicken | 2.4 | Tesco Cream of Chicken | 1.76 | 1.4x more |
Examples of higher and lower salt soups, in a standardised 400g* serving With more than five million people in the UK estimated to be living with undiagnosed high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart attacks, strokes and kidney disease, Action on Salt & Sugar says these findings highlight a serious public health issue. Salt is a key driver of raised blood pressure and, because most of it is added into foods before they’re even purchased, shoppers can’t realistically ‘choose their way out’ without stronger action from the Government and the food industry.
Action on Salt & Sugar is now urging ministers to move beyond voluntary approaches, by introducing fiscal levers to drive reformulation, mandating front-of-pack labelling across all food and drink and strengthening healthy sales reporting and the nutrient profiling model so they apply consistently to all food and drink, ensuring high-salt products are no longer the default on shop shelves.
Sonia Pombo, Head of Impact and Research at Action on Salt & Sugar, said:“Soup is often marketed as a healthy, everyday choice, but our findings show it can be a major source of hidden salt. Nearly one in four soups are still exceeding the maximum salt target, despite food businesses being expected to meet it more than a year ago. A full 12 months on, that level of non-compliance is disappointing and difficult to justify.“The UK used to be a world leader on salt reduction, but progress has stalled. Government must get back on the front foot with stronger incentives to drive reformulation, and proper accountability, so the healthier option becomes the default, not the exception.”Dr Pauline Swift, Consultant Nephrologist and Chair of Action on Salt & Sugar added:
“High blood pressure is still the UK’s silent killer, and salt is one of the biggest reasons. When a ‘simple’ lunch like soup can contain a huge chunk of your daily limit, it’s no surprise so many people are walking around with blood pressure that’s too high.
“This isn’t about individual blame; the public cannot ‘choose their way out’ of this problem when salt is added long before the food reaches our table. Reducing salt is one of the fastest, most cost-effective ways to bring blood pressure down and prevent heart attacks, strokes and kidney disease, and we need both food businesses and the Government to play their part.”