Low-Sodium Foods: 30 Lowest per 100 g & per Serving

Lowest in sodium per 100 g

30 of 379 ranked foods, least sodium first. % = share of the FDA Daily Value. n/r = not reported.

Least sodium per typical serving

The same foods ranked by what one typical USDA portion gives, which is what you eat. Only servings of 30 g or more are listed: a single leaf or a spoonful of peel would always be lowest.

Least sodium per 200 kcal

Nutrient density: sodium for the same 200 calories of each food.

Best by food group

The top three of each group per 100 g (rank within the group).

• Fruits

  1. 1. Apple (raw, without skin): 0 mg
  2. 1. Cherries (sweet, raw): 0 mg
  3. 1. Grapefruit (raw, pink and red and white): 0 mg

• Vegetables

  1. 1. Maitake mushrooms (raw): 1 mg
  2. 1. Hungarian peppers (raw): 1 mg
  3. 1. Pumpkin (raw): 1 mg

• Legumes

  1. 1. Peanuts (valencia, raw): 1 mg
  2. 2. Lentils (mature seeds, cooked, boiled, without salt): 2 mg
  3. 3. Lentils (raw): 6 mg

• Nuts and Seeds

  1. 1. Pecans: 0 mg
  2. 2. Almonds: 1 mg
  3. 2. Pistachio nuts (raw): 1 mg

• Grains

  1. 1. Oat bran (cooked): 1 mg
  2. 1. White rice (long-grain, enriched, cooked): 1 mg
  3. 1. White rice (medium-grain, raw, enriched): 1 mg

• Dairy Foods

  1. 1. Ghee (clarified butter): 0 mg
  2. 2. Butter oil (anhydrous): 2 mg
  3. 3. Whipped cream (cream topping, pressurized): 8 mg

• Meats

  1. 1. Pork belly (raw): 32 mg
  2. 2. Pork carcass (separable lean and fat, raw): 42 mg
  3. 3. Chicken skin (raw): 51 mg

• Fish and Seafood

  1. 1. Tuna (light, canned in water, without salt, drained solids): 50 mg
  2. 1. Tuna (white, canned in oil, without salt, drained solids): 50 mg
  3. 1. Tuna (white, canned in water, without salt, drained solids): 50 mg

• Oils and Fats

  1. 1. Fish oil (cod liver): 0 mg
  2. 1. Fish oil (sardine): 0 mg
  3. 1. Avocado oil: 0 mg

Plant-based (vegan) picks

Fruit, vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds, grains and oils with no animal ingredient, ranked among themselves per 100 g.

Concentrated forms (not ranked)

Flours, powders, concentrates, sugars and fortified foods with sodium, listed by value per 100 g but left out of the rankings above.

Which foods are ranked

• The 379 foods on CalorieExplorer with a reported sodium value. They are generic USDA FoodData Central rows (Foundation Foods and SR Legacy) with a plain name: no branded products, restaurant items, survey mixed dishes, baby foods or regional specialty rows.
• Every reported value is ranked, 0 included (379 foods); a food with no reported value is left out, never counted as 0.
• Flours, crude brans, powders and dehydrated foods, juice concentrates, mixes, sugars and fortified foods are not ranked: per 100 g they beat every food eaten as is. They are listed separately below.
• Ties share a rank: foods with the same value per 100 g get the same number, and the next number is skipped.
• Typical portion = USDA's own serving weight for that food (a medium fruit, 1 cup, 1 oz…), as on its food page. Per 200 kcal shows how much you get for the same calories; foods under 5 kcal per 100 g are not ranked that way (–).
• % DV = share of the FDA Daily Value for sodium, 2,300 mg a day for adults and children 4 and older.
• FDA's “low” claim for sodium allows 140 mg or less per reference serving (21 CFR 101.60–101.62); applied here to the typical USDA portion.

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