DRAFT Australian Dietary Guidelines - Eat For Health

Reduced fat products
For a food to be labelled ‘reduced fat’, it must contain at least 25% less fat than is present in the
equivalent full-fat product, and at least 3g less fat per 100g of food.
Salt
Dietary salt is an inorganic compound consisting of sodium and chloride ions. It is found naturally
in many foods, but it is also added to many foods because of its preservative and flavouring
characteristics. Research has shown that both the sodium and the chloride can be detrimental to
health when consumed in excess. About 90% of all the sodium added to food is sodium chloride,
so dietary intake of sodium approximates intake of sodium chloride for practical purposes. Sodium
in the diet of Australian adults comes mostly from processed foods, although sodium added in
cooking, at the table, in medications and naturally present in foods can contribute to the total
dietary intake.
Australian adults are recommended to limit their intake of sodium to less than 2300 mg per day.
This is equivalent to about six grams of salt, or one and a half teaspoons.
Saturated fatty acids
In chemical terms, saturated fatty acids (SFA) contain no double bond - that is, they are fully
saturated with hydrogen. Foods which predominantly comprise SFA are usually solid at room (e.g.
butter, fat on meat). SFA are the main type of fatty acid in milk, cream, butter and cheese, in some
meats (most of the land animal fats), and can also be found in considerable amounts in some oils
such as in palm and coconut oil. When the saturated fatty acids palmitic (16:0), myristic (14:0) and
lauric (12:0) predominate in the diet they tend to raise plasma cholesterol.
Sodium
See salt.
Standard drink
A standard drink contains 10 grams of alcohol—equivalent to 12.5 millilitres of alcohol.
DRAFT Australian Dietary Guidelines- December 2011 201