Assessment of salt use at the table: comparison of observed and reported behavior.

Observations were made of salt added during meals. Nineteen per cent of 211 participants salted before tasting food, 18 per cent salted after tasting, and 2 per cent salted both before and after tasting. Of those who self-reported "never" to salt food before tasting, 6 per cent were observed to do so. Of those who reported never to salt after tasting, 3 per cent did so. Results support the conclusion that self-reported abstinence from use of table salt is strongly correlated with actual behavior.