Do YOU know maximum amount of salt you should have each day? Four in five of us don’t…

 Just a fifth of Brits know how much salt they’re allowed to have each day, a survey suggests.

NHS guidance tells people not to eat more than 6g a day, or around one teaspoon. 

This is the equivalent amount to what is found in 17 packets of crisps.  

Consuming too much salt can lead to high blood pressure, raising the risk of heart attacks and strokes, experts warn. 

Yet, only 19 per cent of Brits quizzed by the British Heart Foundation knew that the daily limit was 6g.

The poll, of more than 2,000 people, revealed that a whopping 27 per cent had no idea what the maximum recommended amount was. 

Another 17 per cent assumed it was either 7, 8 or 9g per day.

Five per cent thought it was just 1g a day. The rest believed the advice was not to exceed 5g. 

BHF’s survey also revealed that a shocking 65 per cent of people weren’t confident estimating how much they consume every day.

Huge quantities of salt can be found lurking in everyday goods, including ham and cheese. 

For example, a tin of Heinz Cream of Tomato soup contains 2.2g of salt.

Adults in England, on average, ingest 40 per cent more salt than the Government’s recommended maximum daily intake, separate surveys show. 

Just 19 per cent of 2,063 Britons were able to tell You Gov what the recommended daily allowance of salt is

John Maingay, director of policy and influencing at the BHF, said: ‘This clearly shows that people don’t feel they know how much salt they are eating, and just providing people with that information isn’t going to help when there are high salt levels in so many of the foods we buy. 

‘There is a clear case for helping people eat more healthily by taking salt out of food before it is bought. 

‘We need government action to drive all parts of the food industry to play their part and reduce the amount of salt they are serving to us.’

Sonia Pombo, registered nutritionist and campaign lead at Action on Salt, said: ‘It is no surprise many people are not aware of their salt intake as the majority is already added to our food by the food industry. 

‘Simply telling people to eat less salt will not work when most of our food is full of it.’

Dietitian Nichola Ludlam-Raine told MailOnline: ‘Although most people think that the majority of our salt intake comes from adding salt to our food, around 75 per cent is actually found within the food we already consume, such as processed meats, pizza, ready meals, tinned soups and savoury snacks such as salted nuts.

‘We can, of course, utilise the information from food labels to decipher low in salt options (should they be consumer friendly) and include more whole foods, however — we can’t escape it in our weekly shops.’