Wednesday, 21 Oct, 2026

Just How Much Salt Is Actually in Your Dinner (or Breakfast)?


Just How Much Salt Is Actually in Your Dinner (or Breakfast)?
Kenneth Ferriera/NEW YORK MAGAZINE

How much salt is really in our dinners (or our breakfasts)? To find out, we ordered some of our favorite dishes — we got it anonymously; the restaurants had no idea where their food was headed — and sent everything to the University of Nebraska Food Processing Center in Lincoln to gauge the sodium content with an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. See how much salt is in everything, below (arranged least to most), and keep in mind that the American Heart Association recommends eating fewer than 1,500 milligrams, total per day.

Parm’s Rigatoni Carbone: 911-mg


Just How Much Salt Is Actually in Your Dinner (or Breakfast)?
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Claud’s Devil’s-food cake: 968-mg


Just How Much Salt Is Actually in Your Dinner (or Breakfast)?
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Cafe Commerce ’s Mashed potatoes: 1,083-mg


Just How Much Salt Is Actually in Your Dinner (or Breakfast)?
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Via Carota’s Fried rabbit with fried bread: 1,215-mg


Just How Much Salt Is Actually in Your Dinner (or Breakfast)?
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Win Son’s Bacon-egg-and-cheese scallion pancake: 1,435-mg


Just How Much Salt Is Actually in Your Dinner (or Breakfast)?
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The Full Report


Just How Much Salt Is Actually in Your Dinner (or Breakfast)?
Photo: The Food Processing Center/University of Nebraska - Lincoln

Illustrations by Joe McKendry

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