Paul, the upmarket bakery and patisserie, has hit back at claims made today by Consensus Action on Salt & Health (Cash), that a number of its breads contain high levels of salt, saying the nutritional content quoted is incorrect.

The research by Cash claimed that one in four bread loaves contained as much salt per slice as a packet of crisps, with Paul named as one of the worst offenders. Cash stated that its Pain De Campagne (brown) contained 2.83g of salt per 100g, while its Pain Ancien (white) contained 1.85g per 100g.

However Paul has said that “due to a simple error in translation from French terminology to English some of the facts stated in the report are incorrect”.

The bakery chain acknowledged that some of the wording used on its UK website, which detailed the nutritional content of its bread was incorrect. “We have poorly translated the term ‘salt’ by using the word ‘sodium’ therefore some of the facts stated in the Cash survey are incorrect,” said chief executive James Fleming.

He said its Paul (UK) website would be updated immediately to reflect the correct salt content of its bread, and it will also introduce new bread information labels in all its shops, so consumers are aware of how much salt is used in its breads, following the report by Cash.

Cash surveyed the salt content of 294 fresh and packaged loaves from supermarkets and their in-store bakeries (ISBs) - as well as chain and independent high street bakeries - and found 28% contained as much salt, or more, per slice than a packet of crisps.

For the full debate on the salt issue see the next issue of British Baker, out 9 September.

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