Why does Member's Mark Frozen cod have 340mg of sodium while other frozen cod is 75-110mg per serving?

Question

I've compared other brands and even some others from Sam's that have nowhere near the sodium.

Answer 1

Read the ingredients:

INGREDIENTS: COD, WATER, SALT

The added salt is the source of the extra sodium. Most frozen fish does not have added salt.

Source: https://www.samsclub.com/p/members-mark-pacific-cod-3-lb/prod21001020

Responding to comments, here is an example of frozen cod without added salt. It has only 60mg of salt per 4oz serving, which must come from the fish itself. This is consistent with the USDA nutritional facts for cod fillets.

Answer 2

It seems to be the case that one serving (115 grams on that label) of natural cod has only about 60 mg of sodium, not the "75-110" mg you mention.

(I had no idea this was the case!)

https://www.calorieking.com/us/en/foods/f/calories-in-fish-atlantic-cod-raw/V2bxhYJtRfacMQb82XQwEw

(select "grams .. 115")

If you're seeing "75-110" on other brands, it is perhaps likely those other brands also add salt.

(You can possibly, but maybe not, learn this from the ingredients labels, depending on the legalities of what they have to reveal.)

If so, the answer to your question would just seem to be that this product simply adds more salt than the others - ?

I've thought of two theories why this could be, ie, answering your actual question "why" does this have more salt than others.

product link:

https://www.samsclub.com/p/members-mark-pacific-cod-3-lb/prod21001020

(1) Note that it happens to be from China. As is commonly known, cuisines in China, Japan and Asia generally use much more salt than in the West. Conceivably, Chinese processors tend to use more salt?

(2) I had a quick review of the prices of similar products at various retailers; this one seems to be basically the cheapest. Is it possible that (in answer to your question) they just add more salt to beef-up the taste since it is (perhaps) lesser quality fish? (Or, just in general, "cheaper food" from processors and fast food joints tends to have more salt added.)