Going by the somewhat surprising findings of a survey by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), more than 75 percent of the Britons are unaware of the fact that the top three salt-contributing foods in their diet are bread, meat products, and breakfast cereals.

The survey, which included 2,267 people, all above 16 years of age, found that 77 percent of the respondents did not realize that a large of their salt intake came from the most commonly-eaten foods, which are not necessarily the saltiest.

As per the FSA, while the recommended daily salt intake level is 6g, most Britons consume 8.6g salt per day.

To arrive at the conclusions of the FSA survey, the Consensus Action on Salt & Health campaign group, which conducted the main study, undertook a comparative assessment of the salt levels in different brands of sliced bread, breakfast cereal, pasta sauces, tomato ketchup, and fresh and tinned soups.

The findings revealed that supermarket 'own-label' foods have comparatively lower levels of salt than the leading brands - a contrasting view to that of 40 percent shoppers who felt that supermarket value ranges have more salt vis-à-vis the well-known brands.

Nearly 85 percent of the survey respondents said that they generally consumed the same brands of everyday foods; while 26 percent said they tend to change from their usual brand if they found a lower salt option.