Sodium Chloride | whatsinit

About

What it is and where it shows up.

Sodium chloride (NaCl), commonly known as table salt, is an ionic mineral compound used ubiquitously in food as a flavoring agent, preservative, and texture modifier. It is also an essential mineral required in small amounts by the human body for fluid balance, nerve transmission, and muscle function.

Safety summary

The regulatory and scientific consensus.

While essential in small quantities, chronic excess intake is strongly associated with elevated blood pressure—a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, stroke, gastric cancer, and kidney disease—with WHO estimating approximately 1.89 million deaths per year attributable to high sodium intake. WHO recommends adults consume less than 2 g/day sodium (equivalent to ~5 g/day salt), yet the global mean adult intake is more than double this at 4,310 mg/day. EFSA's NDA Panel concluded that no Tolerable Upper Intake Level for sodium can be established due to the continuous dose-response relationship between sodium intake and blood pressure, and people with hypertension, kidney disease, heart failure, and the elderly face disproportionate risk.

Regulatory landscape

What food-safety regulators have decided.

Jurisdiction	Status	Note
EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) (European Union)	Approved	Sodium chloride is not classified as a food additive under EU Regulation No 1333/2008 and therefore carries no E-number. EFSA's NDA Panel (2019) concluded that a Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for sodium cannot be established because the relationship between sodium intake and blood pressure is continuous and modulated by many factors. Dietary Reference Values for chloride (derived equimolar to sodium values) were set to 3.4 g/day for adults, with sodium chloride identified as the main dietary source. Dietary intakes in Europe currently far exceed nutritional requirements.source
FDA (Food and Drug Administration) (United States)	Approved	Salt (sodium chloride) was recognized as GRAS in 21 CFR 182.1(a) following the 1958 Food Additives Amendment, with no formal conditions of use or regulatory maximum established to date. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend adults limit sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg/day. FDA has issued voluntary sodium reduction goals (Edition 2, August 2024) across 163 categories of commercially processed and prepared foods, but has not mandated a regulatory upper limit. Petitions in 1978 and 2005 to revoke salt's GRAS status were unsuccessful.source

Who should approach with care

Whose guidance would steer them away.

Hypertension — Excess sodium intake directly and continuously raises blood pressure, worsening hypertension and significantly increasing risk of stroke and cardiovascular events, as confirmed by WHO and EFSA NDA Panel assessments.

Kidney Disease — Impaired kidneys cannot efficiently excrete excess sodium, causing fluid retention, further blood pressure elevation, and accelerated renal function decline; WHO and FDA both identify kidney disease as a high-risk condition.

Heart Disease — High sodium intake promotes fluid retention and raises blood pressure, increasing cardiac workload and risk of heart failure exacerbation, which WHO links to an estimated 1.89 million sodium-attributable deaths annually.

Children — WHO recommends that children's maximum sodium intake be adjusted downward from the 2 g/day adult limit based on their lower energy requirements, as excess sodium promotes blood pressure elevation from an early age.

Elderly — Blood pressure generally rises with age and renal sodium excretion capacity declines, making the elderly disproportionately susceptible to hypertension and cardiovascular harm from excess sodium intake, as noted by FDA.

Research citations

The sources behind this verdict.

1FDA. Sodium in Your Diet. fda.gov
2PubMed. Regulation of Added Substances in the Food Supply by the Food and Drug Administration Human Foods Program. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
3WHO. Sodium Reduction – WHO Fact Sheet, 2025. who.int
4EFSA. Dietary Reference Values for Chloride, 2019. efsa.europa.eu
5WHO. Guideline: Sodium Intake for Adults and Children, 2012. who.int
6EFSA. EFSA Provides Advice on Adverse Effects of Sodium, 2005. efsa.europa.eu

Independently researched6 citations