I’m in a Bit of a Pickle Over All this Salt.
This just in: Pickles Cause Heart Attacks!
Well, of course they don’t. But can over-consumption contribute to a good old coronary? You betcha.
Now colour me naïve for being somewhat clueless to the matter, but I was only enlightened recently to just how much sodium there is in some of Canada’s favourite condiments. Not sure why it never dawned on me to check before – but as both Ryder and Reid love a good pickle, I’m feeling like quite the bad mom for not paying attention to the label.
Exhibit A: a standard Bick’s Pickle.
(Disclaimer: Not picking on Bick’s AT ALL, just making a point about pickles in general.)
We were treated to a BBQ at Grandma’s house on Saturday night, as being in weekend-crisis mode over leaving for NYC in a few days necessitated some TLC and SEC (translation: someone else cooking). As the burgers were grilled to perfection by Chef Grandpa, my mom asked me to assemble the condiments, including – of course – pickles!
Who doesn’t love pickles? They’re crunchy, tangy and pack just the right acidic punch. But as I began slicing them up, a scary figure caught my eye: the sodium content. YIKES! 480mg for ONE pickle? I can eat one pickle with two hands tied behind my back. Surely my eyes were deceiving me… no?
They weren’t. And from my % Daily Value training, I knew that the 20% represented your daily recommended allowance for sodium – and that 20% was A LOT. Seriously folks, wanna blow 1/5 of your daily salt intake on THIS?
Granted, it is delicious. But it’s a condiment, dammit! I’ve seen entire Lean Cuisine meals with less sodium than just one medium-sized pickle. I then alerted my mom – who carefully watches her salt intake – and even she was floored to see just how much sodium was absorbed by the little cucumber in the pickling liquid. It’s official: I’m off pickles.
Exhibit B: Bick’s Banana Pepper Rings.
Okay, these are even more delicious than pickles and I swear I put them on everything that comes off the barbecue. After picklegate, I was scared to see what the sodium damage was – but then reasoned that I only ate a few per serving – say, 5-6 tops?
Mmkay here we go. Turning the jar around to see the nutritional info… fingers crossed… and jaw dropping to the floor.
The serving size is JUST TWO PIECES – and those two pieces once again give you about 20% of your daily recommended allowance of sodium. Say what? I ask you this: who eats just two banana peppers? On a 6-foot sub alone I’d have about 10-12. To put it in perspective, this is what 1/5 of your daily recommended salt intake looks like:
And, to further illustrate my point, if you had a hamburger layered with 5-6 banana peppers and a pickle on the side, you’d already be looking at 80% of your daily sodium allowance… without even biting into the burger. To quote Gwen Stefani, this sh*t is bananas – B A N A N A S!
EDIT: Reader Olivia pointed out that in the case of Banana Peppers, Bick’s likely meant two WHOLE PEPPERS, as there is no way 2 pieces could be 30g. Excellent point! However, Bick’s – you need to brush up on your labeling. “2 pieces” can only be interpreted one way…
Considering I ate pickles all day long while pregnant with Reid, it’s no wonder I gained so much water weight and struggled with swollen joints and varicose veins. Wish I had known about the perils of pickling liquid back then!
On the bright side, I’ve decided to remove pickled condiments from my diet and spend my sodium allowance on delicious foods that are worth the trade-off, at least to me.
Tell me – are you surprised by the “hidden” sodium in pickles?
WOW!!! I put a SLICE of pickle on my burger… so I feel a little less guilt but still … wow!! It’s no wonder there’s such high blood pressure in our society!
And to think… pickles aren’t even HIDDEN sodium – I mean, they taste salty, and are pickled… and stil we’re shocked about the sodium content. Imagine all those packaged foods where we don’t taste the salt? Yikes!
I used to sit with a bowl filled with delicious pickles and eat the entire thing (prob 4-5 at a time) when I felt like snacking because they’re low in calories & fat. I then noticed the sodium and stopped instantly – with diabetes & high blood pressure in my family (and possibly against me), it just wasn’t worth it. Now I’ll treat myself to one with a tuna sandwich, and I limit the amount of pickles, olives and hot peppers Aidan consumes (he has his fathers ‘pickled-tooth’).
Thx for the post – I’m sure a lot of readers will be thanking you too!
Love that Aidan has his father’s “pickled-tooth” – my boys are the same way! And agreed – I used to snack on pickles because of the low calories/fat – now I’m choosing cucumber slices with a tiny bit of salt instead :)
When I started loosing weight I started reading labels and it really opened my eyes. Scary how much crap is in some of the yummiest foods. I even stopped cooking with salt for the most part and add after. Found my taste buds adjusted and I didn’t crave it as much.
I’ve made a conscious effort to cut down the amount of salt I cook with and you’re right Julia – it’s all a matter of adjusting :)
My husband brought this to my attention just last weekend as we enjoyed the delicious condiments with our burgers. What got him is that my 21-month old loves pickles and scarfed down two in that one sitting! Like you, I didn’t realize the sodium content and have made it a point to stop feeding him pickles. (Might take me a bit of extra effort, heehee).
Good for you, Liza! My toddler can easy put away 2-3 at one serving, which is scary :/
*tear* But I love pickles…just going to go and crawl back into my clueless kitchen.
Hahaha, well, sometimes ignorance IS bliss :)
Ok, so I just pulled out my jar of Bick’s Banana Pepper Rings and looked at the nutritional label. What I found interesting is that YOUR label says 2 pieces (30 g) is one serving, but MY label says 17 pieces (30 g) is one serving. I think your 2 pieces means 2 whole peppers and not 2 slices. When I stop to think about it, if one whole dill pickle is about 60 grams, then 2 slices can’t possibly equal half a pickle. Still a fair amount of sodium, but I was starting to really freak out because I add these to my tacos, and I must eat at least a 14-15 spread over 4 or 5 tacos. So yeah, I’ll guess I’ll cut down a bit, but at least I haven’t been unknowingly eating 125% of my sodium RDA in banana peppers each time I have tacos.
And THIS is why I love reader feedback. You bring up an incredibly valid point, and I honestly can say that I didn’t put two and two together when it came to the serving size (you’re right, there’s no way 2 PIECES can be 30g).
That being said, this is obviously a labeling wakeup for Bick’s – they need to be clear on pieces or peppers. Happy your bottled was labelled differently and we could compare the two! I’ve edited my post to reflect your findings – thank you!
Ack. I lived on pickles when I was pregnant. One word: hypertension.
Two words: me too :(
I love pickles too and usually have 2 per burger! And here’s another killer…I’m Korean and Koreans eat kimchi with everything (pickled cabbage). I watched my mom make it once when I was a teenager and it blew my mind how much salt you need to make a batch! Literally, kimchi is cabbage, salt and crushed red peppers. Have that at every meal, and Koreans wonder why they have high blood pressure! Every nationality has pickled staples, don’t they?? My Polish friend packs away the saurkraut and that stuff is packed with salt too! My husband is Dutch and he loves his pickled herring…again, tons of salt! What are we to do? These staples are tooo delicious to give up!!!
I LOVE kimchi! Like, seriously have it with every Korean dish I eat. I should know it’s salty, but at this point I’m covering my ears and saying “Nah Nah Nah I can’t hear you!”
Whoa! I’m shocked! Obviously they’re salty little bits of delicious, but I would’ve never guessed. I’ll be keeping that in mind the next time a pregnancy craving strikes!
Haha please do! The sodium really, really adds up.