Assessment of salt use at the table: Comparison of observed and reported behavior

Abstract

Observations were made of salt added during meals. Nineteen per cent of 211 participants salted before tasting food, 18% salted after tasting, and 2% salted both before and after tasting. Of those who self-reported 'never' to salt food before tasting, 6% were observed to do so. Of those who reported never to salt after tasting, 3% did so. Results support the conclusion that self-reported abstinence from use of table salt is strongly correlated with actual behavior.