MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Researchers presented three new studies about salt at the American Heart Association meeting on Thursday.

The first shows that nearly 75 percent of packaged food for toddlers contain more sodium than recommended, after looking at more than 1,000 foods.

A product was considered high in salt if it had more than 210 milligrams of sodium per serving, or 14 percent of the daily recommended allowance. Increased sodium can cause hypertension as an adult.

Another study found most adults eat almost double the recommended daily amount of sodium — 3,600 milligrams instead of 1,500.

A third study found eating too much salt contributed to 2.3 million deaths worldwide in 2010 from heart-related diseases.

Almost half were people 69 or younger. Health experts say a half teaspoon of salt is all you need each day.