Salt is an essential part of our diet but only small amounts are required. Marmite spread contains salt, and this is something you should be aware of - particularly if you are following a restricted salt or low sodium diet.

We recommend sticking to the suggested serving size of 4g for adults and 2g for children. This is roughly the amount to cover the tip of a knife and provides 8.5% of the recommended guideline amount of salt for adults.

Marmite and children

The government recommends the following daily amounts of salt for children.

Age	Daily Dietary salt target for the population*
0 - 6 months	Less than 1g
7 - 12 months	Less than 1g
1 - 6 years	2g
7 - 14 years	5g

We recommend a 2g serving of Marmite for children. This is 13% of the suggested daily salt intake for a child aged 1-6 years and 5.2% of the suggested intake for a child aged 7-14 years.

Health professional advice about the weaning of infants of less than 12 months is to choose products marked as being low in salt as well as avoiding the addition of salt to foods. However, toast "soldiers" spread with a little Marmite are suggested as 'suitable snacks for young children, aged one year or more, along with fruit and vegetables, and dairy foods like yoghurt.' **

* These are considered to be achievable population goals but they are not the necessary or optimal amounts for individuals.

** MAFF/DOH/HEA. Healthy diets for infants and young children - A guide for health professionals, 1997