Sodium values of Chinese condiments and their use in sodium-restricted diets

Counseling a Chinese patient on a low-sodium diet can be an arduous task for the dietitian. Special consideration of cultural beliefs, food preferences, and food practices must be incorporated into the individualized instruction. Equally important is the need for familiarity with the sodium values of frequently consumed foods and condiments indigenous to the Chinese population. To date, published sodium determinations for such items are quite limited. Representative samples of commonly used Chinese seasonings and sauces were collected. Analysis was performed by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. Many of the condiments often forbidden in the sodium-restricted diet contained less than 200 mg. sodium per teaspoon in all the samples tested. These included: sweet bean sauce, rinsed and unrinsed fermented black beans, hoisin sauce, satay sauce, fermented bean cake, and rinsed and unrinsed dried shrimp. These data can give the dietitian the option of calculating these often "forbidden" items into the sodium-restricted diet. Factors to be considered are the patient's typical meal pattern, situational needs, comprehension level, degree of compliance, and other available information.