Ingredient lists and sodium

Reading ingredient lists is helpful in determining sodium content. They list the ingredients in a food in descending order.

Following is an ingredient list for a typical processed cheddar cheese:

• Cheddar cheese, enzyme-modified cheddar cheese (milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), water, lactic acid, enzymes, milkfat, sodium citrate, kasal, salt, sodium phosphate, sorbic acid (preservative), apocarotenal (color)

You can see that cheese is the main ingredient, but also note that salt is present in two places and that it also contains sodium citrate and sodium phosphate, which are two other types of sodium.