By Moon Gwang-lip
Staff Reporter


South Koreans’ salt intake is too high despite their growing interest in healthy diets, the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) said Tuesterday.

The administration warned against excessive sodium consumption, saying that Korean’s intake is much higher than the internationally recommended level.

The KFDA estimate that Koreans eat 4,900 milligrams of sodium on average every day, 2.45 times the recommended level of 2,000 milligrams set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to the WHO, sodium or natrium is necessary to maintain the body’s fluid balance but excessive intake could damage the kidneys and increase the risk of high blood pressure.

The assessment revealed the main source of sodium is in basic foods, including kimchi, soybean paste and soy sauce. Kimchi, the nation’s staple side dish made from fermented vegetables and spices, is widely consumed in Korea.

By eating kimchi and kimchi-based dishes, the average Korean ingests 30 percent of his daily intake of sodium. Another 22 percent comes from soybean paste and soy sauce, and 17 percent directly from salt.

Instant noodles, including ``ramyon,’’ provide about five percent of the daily sodium intake for the average Korean.

In particular, a bowl of ``kalguksu,’’ or knife-cut noodles, contains 2,900 milligrams of sodium, surpassing the WHO’s recommended daily consumption. Ramyon and Japanese instant noodles, called ``udong,’’ have 2,100 milligrams.

``Since just one bowl of noodles contains too much sodium, people should not eat them very often,’’ said Kang Hye-kyung, director in charge of nutritional evaluation at the KFDA.

Other salty foods include naengmyon, a traditional cold noodle dish that has 1,800 mg of sodium, soybean paste soup with 950 mg and kimchi stew with 900 mg.

A piece of steamed mackerel contains 1,500 milligrams of sodium while 10 pieces of cabbage have 1,000 milligrams. A row of ``kimbap,’’ or rice wrapped in dried seaweed, has 650 milligrams.

The KFDA said sodium is also concentrated in fast food _ 1,300 milligrams in a slice of pizza, 900 milligrams in a double cheeseburger and 500 milligrams in two pieces of roll cake.

``Better choices for seasoning food include dried pepper flakes, black pepper, garlic, ginger and vinegar,’’ Park said.

She advised people on low-salt diets to eat just the noodles and toss the sodium-filled packet of soup that comes with instant noodles.

A sufficient intake of fruits and vegetables will prevent an excessive intake of sodium from taking a toll on your health, the director added.

joseph@koreatimes.co.kr