The survey by the Food Standards Agency tested a range of pizzas, spaghetti and baked beans from leading supermarkets and found three times more salt in some products than in other comparable meals.
A Pizza Express margherita pizza was found to contain 50% of the daily recommended allowance of salt, Asda tinned spaghetti topped the poll with 62%, while half a tin of Somerfield baked beans contained 53%.
Sir John Krebs, the FSA chairman, said: "Foods such as baked beans, spaghetti and pizza are products that families rely on. The fact that the salt in one can of baked beans can vary so dramatically indicates that manufacturers can reduce the amount of salt they add."
The survey compared the highest salt content with the lowest to indicate to some of the manufacturers the unnecessarily vast amounts of salt they add.
Asda and Co-op tinned spaghetti in tomato sauce had 62% of the daily recommended allowance, while the Heinz variety was the lowest at 27%.
Iceland Kids Crew and Sainbury's Parrot Pizza for children were the highest with 28% while Tesco Kids was the lowest with 20%.
Dr Oetker Speciale and Tesco Stonebaked Pizza were the worst in the adult category with 68%, while Tesco Ham and Pineapple and Barbecue Chicken pizzas were the lowest with 40%.
The Food Standards Agency is committed to reducing salt intake in adults from 9.5 grams a day to six by 2010. Processed foods often contain hidden salts and contribute three quarters of the salt eaten in the average diet.
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