1Department of Medical Biochemistry, University of Abuja and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Lagos, Nigeria
2Career Management Office, Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Abuja, Nigeria
3Department of Internal Medicine, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria
4Africa Centre of Excellence for Mycotoxin and Food Safety, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria
5National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Lagos, Nigeria
Introduction: Hypertension is a major cause of premature death worldwide, leading to an estimated 10.8 million avoidable deaths every year. An estimated 1.4 billion adults aged 30-79 years worldwide had hypertension in 2024; this represents 33% of the population in this age range. A 2019 study conducted in Nigeria indicated a prevalence among adults at approximately 31%, the overall age-standardized prevalence was estimated to be 38.1%. A survey revealed that the average sodium consumption among Nigerian adults was 2.8g per day, which exceeds the WHO’s maximum daily recommendation of not more than 2g per day. It is believed that sauces, dips, other seasonings and dressings (which include mayonnaise) are significant contributors to sodium intake. An effective way of reducing dietary sodium intake (thus, reducing blood pressure and diet-related non-communicable diseases) is by lowering sodium content in foods that contribute significantly to total dietary sodium intake. The global sodium benchmarks for different food categories have been set by the World Health Organization (WHO) to serve as a guide for countries in setting maximum sodium levels for reformulation and reduction of sodium content in processed foods. However, Nigeria is yet to implement national sodium benchmarks across food categories. The concern raised about the possible intake of sodium, impact of implementing the WHO global sodium benchmark and a proposed maximum sodium level for some mayonnaise sold in the Nigerian markets will be addressed in this study.
Method: Mean sodium level (without outlier) in mayonnaise and suggested serving were estimated by this study from available data on sodium levels from on-pack nutrient declaration panels of the labels of randomly selected and most commonly available brands of mayonnaise in major open markets and supermarkets in almost all the States of the Federation. A total of seven (7) mayonnaise brands were collected, one of which has a sodium content values that is a significant outlier. These data were used to calculate sodium intake from mayonnaise using methodology developed by the Joint Experts Committee on Food Additives (JECFA). This was expressed as a percentage of the WHO dietary goals for preventing obesity and other NCDs or the Nutrient Reference Value - Noncommunicable Disease (NRV-NCD) for sodium to provide an estimate of the potential risk of excess sodium intake and determine if mayonnaise contributes significantly to total dietary intake, according to the sodium threshold contained in the WHO Nutrient Profile Model for the African Region. The mean sodium level was cross-checked against the relevant threshold provided in this Model to determine if the product is high in sodium and its marketing to children is to be prohibited. Outlier was calculated using GraphPad Prism statistical software, which performs Grubbs’ test, also called the ESD method (Extreme Studentized Deviate).
Result and Discussion: The sodium content varied widely from 0.15 to 0.83g per 100g of mayonnaise. The mean sodium level was approximately 0.5g per 100g of mayonnaise. Comparing this with the sodium threshold for sauces, dips, other seasonings, and dressings (per 100g) provided in the nutrient profile model for the WHO African region (which is 0.3g), mayonnaise is classified as excessive in sodium. The low-fat version was found to have the highest sodium content. Estimation of sodium intake from three servings of this version per day was 0.35g, which is a lot of sodium. There was a significant reduction in this intake to 0.13g or 0.21g when the WHO global benchmark for sauces, dips and dressings or the proposed maximum sodium level for mayonnaise was used in the estimation respectively.
Conclusion and Recommendation: Mayonnaise is excessive in sodium and could be a significant contributor to sodium intake in Nigeria. The adoption of the global sodium benchmark for sauces, dips, and dressings (0.5g sodium per 100g mayonnaise) or the proposed maximum sodium level (0.3g sodium per 100g mayonnaise) could lead to a significant reduction in sodium content and, subsequently, sodium intake. It is recommended that the marketing of mayonnaise to children should be prohibited, the use of the low-fat claim should take sodium content into account, and the consumption of mayonnaise should not be more than one or two suggested servings (14 - 28g) per day.
Keywords: WHO Global Sodium Benchmarks; Nutrient Profile Model; Mayonnaise; Sodium Intake; Nigeria
Fregene Enasor Christopher., et al. “The Possible Intake of Sodium, Impact of Implementing the WHO Global Sodium Benchmark and a Proposed Maximum Sodium Level for Some Mayonnaise Sold in the Nigerian Markets”. EC Nutrition 21.1 (2026): 01-08.
© 2026 Fregene Enasor Christopher., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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