Abstract

Introduction: The Chilean Ministry of Health (MINSAL) and the Chilean Federation of Bakers (FECHIPAN) agreed to progressively decrease sodium content in bread from 800 to 500 mg/100 g bread in 100 bakeries in 2011 and in 100% of bakeries in 2014. Objective: To analyze and compare the sodium content in bread from a bakery with national distribution (A) and a local bakery (B). Materials and methods: A total of 100 samples were analyzed in each bakery 50 each of the two types of bread known as marraqueta and hallulla (types of bread rolls). Analysis was performed at different times of the day and at different days of the week. Sodium content was determined by the AOAC (2005) method using atomic absorption spectrophotometry and compared with the sodium content declared in the nutrition label in bakery A. Differences between content for type of bread, bakery and time of sampling were established by ANOVA and Student's t-test with the STATA 12.0 software at a p<0.05 level of significance. Results: Total sodium in bread (mg/100 g unit) was estimated as 619.6±127.7 mg for hallulla and 641.0±93.3 for marraqueta. There were no significant differences in sodium content in both bakeries (p=0.971) and type of bread (p=0.177). Sodium content was higher on Wednesdays (p<0.0001, p=0.016) and at 17 hours (p<0.000001, p=0.028) in hallulla and marraqueta, respectively. Total sodium content in both bakeries varied between 412.5 and 954.5 mg/100 g. Conclusions: Bread from both bakeries showed similar sodium contents although they exceeded the MINSAL-FECHIPAN agreement by 26% to 80%.