A new report released from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that most of the packed foods that are sold in grocery stores contain excessive salts.

The report stated that salt content in those products is lighter than the amount recommended under the federal guidelines.

The researchers from CDC are presently trying to understand why some areas have more cases of hypertension than others.

And as researchers were not able to determine whether location is linked to hypertension, they decided to chose another approach and look at the levels of slat in packaged foods in different locations.

Researchers said that they cannot find any link between high salt level of packaged food and high blood pressure. But they said they found that most packaged foods have high salt level.

They said dishes with pasta and meat have the highest salt level among all packaged foods. Almost 80% of food that researchers tested was found to have excess slat levels.

They said that excess of salt was also found in products like pizza, soups and cold cuts.

The CDC stated that that Americans consume around 77% of their sodium from prepackaged foods and restaurants.

As per the report, Americans on an average consume 3,500 milligrams (mg) of sodium each day. But the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, recommend limiting sodium to less than 2,300 mg a day.

About six out of every ten adults should limit their sodium intake to approximately 1,500 mg a day, showed report.

It has been found that in an attempt to entice food manufacturers in producing healthier foods, the US food and Drug Administration awards ‘healthy’ standard to savory snacks, cheeses, breads and cold cuts that contain 480 mg (0.017 ounces) of sodium per serving.