3 ms·

Just looked up a bag of chips: 100g: 525 cal 1.5 g salt Multiply by ~3.8: 380g: 2000 cal 5.7 g salt Your mileage may vary, but in Nor

Just looked up a bag of chips: 100g: 525 cal 1.5 g salt Multiply by ~3.8: 380g: 2000 cal 5.7 g salt Your mileage may vary, but in Norway, a typical bag of chips contains more than 3.5g of salt per 2000 calories.

thaumasiotes 11y ago
Looked up a nutrition label online: https://healthyeatingrocks.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/lays-chips.png https://healthyeatingrocks.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/lays-... 1 oz: 150 Calories 180 mg sodium multiply by 20/3: 6.667 oz: 2000 Calories 1.2g sodium The kosher salt in my cupboard (ingredients: salt and an anti-caking agent) is 40% sodium by mass (480 mg sodium per 1.2 grams). Or, going by the atomic mass listed here ( http://www.chemicalelements.com/show/mass.html http://www.chemicalelements.com/show/mass.html ), sodium chloride should be 39% sodium by mass. Assuming an even 40%, that's 3 grams of salt (NaCl) in 2000 Calories of american potato chips. (Or, assuming the less generous actual amu ratio, 3.05 grams of salt per 2000 Calories ;D ) HOWEVER: the nutrition label also indicates almost twice as much potassium (330 mg) as sodium. If that potassium is also salt (KCl), the chips will handily exceed 3.5 grams of salt per 2000 Calories.
- ableal 11y ago
  I've read somewhere before that the issue may be K vs. Na balance. Take that with a grain of ... nevermind.
  - thaumasiotes 11y ago
    If that's true, those potato chips should be made with a lot more sodium. (Or, you know, some more sodium and less potassium. I don't think people would eat the "now with 62% more table salt" version of the chips.) Wikipedia says: an ion pump exchanges 3 sodium ions for 2 potassium ions. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium ) 3 sodium ions is 69 atomic mass units. 2 potassiums is 78.2 atomic mass units.
- areyousure 11y ago
  150 times 20/3 is 1000
  - thaumasiotes 11y ago
    Right you are! Double the other figures. :(
jimrandomh 11y ago
I think this is a difference between Norway and the United States.
- thaumasiotes 11y ago
  The major difference appears to be the label's use of "salt" rather than "sodium" as in the US. Using the data from my other comment, and assuming the potassium in the potato chips is also "salt", the 2000 Calories of US potato chips contain 7.25 grams of salt, of which 3.05g is sodium chloride and 4.2g is potassium chloride.

thaumasiotes 11y ago

Looked up a nutrition label online: https://healthyeatingrocks.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/lays-chips.png https://healthyeatingrocks.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/lays-... 1 oz: 150 Calories 180 mg sodium multiply by 20/3: 6.667 oz: 2000 Calories 1.2g sodium The kosher salt in my cupboard (ingredients: salt and an anti-caking agent) is 40% sodium by mass (480 mg sodium per 1.2 grams). Or, going by the atomic mass listed here ( http://www.chemicalelements.com/show/mass.html http://www.chemicalelements.com/show/mass.html ), sodium chloride should be 39% sodium by mass. Assuming an even 40%, that's 3 grams of salt (NaCl) in 2000 Calories of american potato chips. (Or, assuming the less generous actual amu ratio, 3.05 grams of salt per 2000 Calories ;D ) HOWEVER: the nutrition label also indicates almost twice as much potassium (330 mg) as sodium. If that potassium is also salt (KCl), the chips will handily exceed 3.5 grams of salt per 2000 Calories.

ableal 11y ago
I've read somewhere before that the issue may be K vs. Na balance. Take that with a grain of ... nevermind.
- thaumasiotes 11y ago
  If that's true, those potato chips should be made with a lot more sodium. (Or, you know, some more sodium and less potassium. I don't think people would eat the "now with 62% more table salt" version of the chips.) Wikipedia says: an ion pump exchanges 3 sodium ions for 2 potassium ions. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium ) 3 sodium ions is 69 atomic mass units. 2 potassiums is 78.2 atomic mass units.
areyousure 11y ago
150 times 20/3 is 1000
- thaumasiotes 11y ago
  Right you are! Double the other figures. :(

jimrandomh 11y ago

I think this is a difference between Norway and the United States.

thaumasiotes 11y ago
The major difference appears to be the label's use of "salt" rather than "sodium" as in the US. Using the data from my other comment, and assuming the potassium in the potato chips is also "salt", the 2000 Calories of US potato chips contain 7.25 grams of salt, of which 3.05g is sodium chloride and 4.2g is potassium chloride.