A report has revealed that some Chinese takeout dishes have five times more salt than a McDonald’s Big Mac.
The Telegraph reports that some Chinese takeaways have more salt than fast food restaurants.
According to a report by Action on Salt, beef with black bean sauce has over 6g of salt per serving, which is the equivalent to an adult’s total daily recommended allowance. When eaten with egg fried rice, which contains 5g of salt, the total salt content of the meal reaches 11.5g.
A McDonald’s Big Mac only contains 2.3g salt, which is already one third of the recommended daily limit. Sweet and sour chicken, which was found to be the least salty dish, has the same amount of salt as a Big Mac.
Sarah Alderton, assistant nutritionist at Action on Salt, said, “Considering how many millions of takeaways and ready meals are eaten in the UK each week, the food industry must be held to account, with new salt targets set by the government to ensure the salt content of these meals is reduced to much lower levels, and fast. If the food industry don’t comply, they should be made mandatory.”
The saltiest Chinese dish found at UK supermarkets was Slimming World’s Chinese Style Banquet Rice, which contained 4.4g of salt per pack.
A diet with high salt is linked to health problems such as heart disease. Action on Salt claim that for every 1g reduction in salt intake, 7000 deaths are prevented from strokes and heart disease.
Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Queen Mary University of London, said, “Salt is the forgotten killer as it puts up our blood pressure, leading to tens of thousands of unnecessary strokes, heart failure and heart attacks every year.
“Reducing salt is the most cost effective measure to reduce the number of people dying or suffering from strokes or heart disease. We are now calling on Public Health England to take immediate action.”
