Capers

Food · Pantry & Condiment · Food, Typed Supps

2,348 mg of sodium per hundred grams — the saltiest food in the library.

Stage by stage

Intense flavour (Taste): Concentrated enough that a teaspoon flavours a whole dish.
Tiny serve (Stomach): A tablespoon is 9 g — around 210 mg of sodium, not 2,348.
Sodium (Circulation): The highest concentration in the library, and a modest real contribution.
Quercetin (Systemic): Among the richest natural sources, at a fraction of any supplement dose.

Timing

Nothing to time. Rinsing or soaking before use is the one step that changes the sodium that reaches the plate.

Time to effect

Per tablespoon: Around 210 mg of sodium — a tenth of a day.
2–4 weeks: Blood pressure response to a change in total sodium.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Keto, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP.

Satiety

Not scored: the satiety index is measured on 240 kcal servings, and nobody eats a 240 kcal serving of this. The question does not apply rather than the answer being unknown.

Cost band

Mid — roughly £5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 30
Protein: 2.4g
Carbohydrate: 1.7g
of which sugars: 0.4g
Fat: 0.9g
of which saturated: 0.3g
Fibre: 3.2g
Sodium: 2348mg

Food vs. supplement

Capers close this library the way it started: with a number that looks alarming until you ask how much anybody actually eats. The saltiest food here contributes about a tenth of a day’s sodium per tablespoon, and displaces salt that would otherwise have gone in.

Kitchen tip

Rinse brined capers and soak salt-packed ones. Both remove real sodium before the capers reach the dish.

Common myth

“Capers are so salty they can’t be worth eating.” In reality: They are the saltiest food in this library at 2,348 mg per 100 g, and a tablespoon is 9 g — about 210 mg, a tenth of a day. Because the flavour is so intense, a small quantity usually replaces more salt than it adds. Rinsing them first removes some of it again. Concentration and contribution are different questions, and this is where they diverge most.