Keeping an eye on how much salt you consume? You may be looking in all the wrong places, a new report suggests.

Sure it seems to make sense to cut back on salted nuts. Odds are you wouldn’t give licorice a second thought. In fact, four strands of licorice have twice as much sodium as a quarter cup of salted nuts, according to a recent analysis by Consumer Reports.

Potato chips? Sure, they’re salty. But one-third cup of cottage cheese has twice as much sodium as a scant one ounce serving of chips.

Another unlikely candidate, a bowl of Raisin Bran cereal, may be loaded with as much salt as a cup of those mixed nuts.

And when you go out to eat, all the best intentions to cut back aren’t worth a shake if you order the wrong item. At McDonald’s, the Caesar salad with chicken turns out to have almost three times more salt than a large order of fries. Chili’s fajita chicken quesadilla with rice, beans and all the trimmings contains a whopping 5,300 miligrams of salt. That’s over twice the maximum recommended daily intake. People with normal blood pressure should limit their sodium to 2,300 mg a day, according to federal dietary recommendations. Those with prehypertension or high blood pressure should keep the level to below 1,500 mg.

Why does it matter? Too much salt can raise the risk of blood pressure in many people. High blood pressure in turn leads to a slew of serious health problems, including heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, and visual impairment. The American Medical Association estimates that 150,000 lives a year would be saved if Americans cut their salt intake in half. Small wonder the Center for Science in the Public Interest is lobbying the Food and Drug Administration to regulate salt in food. Salt could be the new trans fats.

For now, it’s wise to read labels even of foods that don’t seem salty. Salt is often added to boost the flavor of many foods. You may be surprised by the levels of sodium you find in the small print. “Unfortunately, cutting back isn’t easy because of the high levels of sodium in the many processed and prepared foods that Americans eat on a regular basis,” Jamie Hirsh, Consumer Reports’ associate health editor, said in introducing the new report.

Other recent research has shown that increasing your potassium intake can also help keep blood pressure in check. So while you’re keeping an eye on salt, also remember to help yourself to foods high in this nutrient. For more information, check out “A banana a day.”

Tags: cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, processed foods, salt, sodium, stroke