Fast food salt levels 'shocking'

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Fast food salt levels 'shocking'


There was a wide variation in salt content of food surveyed
A meal at a fast food restaurant could expose children to "staggeringly" high levels of salt, a survey has suggested.

Lobby group, Consensus Action on Salt and Health (Cash), found one meal from Pizza Hut contained four times the daily limit of salt for a six-year old.

KFC also did poorly in the analysis of hundreds of food items, which also included McDonalds and Burger King.

All the restaurant chains said they had reduced salt levels considerably in their products in recent years.

The government recommends a maximum of 6g of salt per day for adults, 5g a day for children aged 7-10 and 3g for children aged 4-6.

How can these companies justify selling food that contains more than the maximum daily limit for adults and children in a single meal

Professor Graham MacGregor

According to the Cash survey, a family of four sharing a Pizza Hut meal deal - consisting of one Cheesy Bites Meat Feast, one medium Super Supreme, a portion of garlic bread, a portion of potato wedges, chicken wings, and a cheesecake desert - could eat 12.3g of salt each.

The amount of salt consumed in one meal is more than twice the daily limit for an adult and four times the daily limit of a six year old.

A family meal from KFC - consisting of eight mini breast fillets, two regular popcorn chicken portions, four regular fries, a large portion of BBQ beans, a large coleslaw and a 1.5 litre Pepsi shared equally between four - could contain 5.2g of salt per person.

Of meal combinations aimed specifically at children, the salt content varied from 4.3g of salt in a Pizza Hut chicken wrap and a soft drink to 0.6g in a McDonald's Happy Meal of chicken nuggets and a fruit bag.

Informed choice

CASH said all the restaurants had information on the salt content of their food on the company websites, but Pizza Hut and KFC had no information at the point of sale.

The saltiest individual meals

Pizza Hut Meat Feast Italian Pizza Plus (meat feast pizza, potato wedges, cheesecake) 9.7g

KFC Variety Meal (three chicken pieces, two hot wings, Colonel's Crispy Strip, regular fries, regular diet coke) 6.3g

Burger King Chicken BLT Baguette Meal (chicken BLT baguette, regular fries, regular coca cola) 4.8g

McDonalds Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal (quarter pounder burger with cheese, medium fries, medium coca cola) 3.2g

They called for all restaurants to carry nutrition information so people could make informed choices.

"It is over four years since the maximum daily limits for salt were established for adults and children," said Professor Graham MacGregor, chairman of Cash.

"And yet this survey shows that the salt levels in some of these meals are staggeringly high.

"How can these companies justify selling food that contains more than the maximum daily limit for adults and children in a single meal?"

He added that high levels of salt in childhood contributed to increased blood pressure and risk of heart attack in later life.

A spokesperson for Pizza Hut said the pizzas highlighted in the survey are not part of a family meal deal and that they had been working since 2004 to cut the salt in their foods.

Lower salt options

McDonalds Chicken McNuggets Meal (six chicken nuggets, medium fries, medium coca cola) 1.5g

KFC Colonel's Meal (two chicken pieces, regular fries, regular diet coke) 2.5g
Burger King Hamburger Meal Deal (hamburger, regular fries, regular coca cola) 2.96g

Pizza Hut Seafood Lovers Pan Pizza Plus (seafood pizza, garlic bread, chocolate fudge cake) 4.7g

"Every sensible parent knows that Pizza Hut is an enjoyable treat and we have significantly reduced the salt levels in our products over the past few years."

A spokesperson for KFC said they had reduced salt by up to 30%.

"We were the first - and remain the only - fast food chain to have removed salt from our fries, leaving customers to choose whether they want to add salt or not."

McDonalds said they had worked hard to make significant reductions in salt levels and would continue to do so.

Burger King said their burgers had no added salt.
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BBC NEWS | Health | Fast food salt levels 'shocking'
 
People shouldn't use fast food restaurants for their daily meals. Occasional treats or while traveling isn't too bad as long as they eat properly the rest of the time.
 
Frozen and canned food are awful high sodium mg.

Imagine, you eat 15 chips = 380 mg sodium. You eat the sodium 380 mg in your body. It causes fluid salt in your body, struggle to lose weight. :(
 
Reba said:
People shouldn't use fast food restaurants for their daily meals. Occasional treats or while traveling isn't too bad as long as they eat properly the rest of the time.
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I agreed...
 
Kalista said:
Frozen and canned food are awful high sodium mg.

Imagine, you eat 15 chips = 380 mg sodium. You eat the sodium 380 mg in your body. It causes fluid salt in your body, struggle to lose weight. :(
Click to expand...

I think frozen vegetables are less sodium than canned. I know vegetables canned are much more high than frozen. Maybe, you can check and compare with these 2 ( frozen and canned ). :)
 
Reba said:
People shouldn't use fast food restaurants for their daily meals. Occasional treats or while traveling isn't too bad as long as they eat properly the rest of the time.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's right but it's not just fast food restaurants but watch out on the label of canned foods as well.
 
Maria said:
I think frozen vegetables are less sodium than canned. I know vegetables canned are much more high than frozen. Maybe, you can check and compare with these 2 ( frozen and canned ). :)
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Yes, that's right.

I often buy fresh or frozen vegetables. There're no soduim at most frozen vegetables.

I don't buy all canned foods except white tuna without oil and tomatoes.
 
DUH!!

Why tell us about fast food as it always bad healthy for you?
 
I prefer frozen foods to canned foods but we need to keep canned foods in case of emergency. If the electricity is off for a long time, the frozen foods will melt and spoil.
 
right i know its high in salt.. thats why i dont go out and eat as i have Meniere's Disease and I am on a sodium restriction diet though once in a while is ok.. its better to eat home cooked meals.. :)
 
I can careless about sodium because I don't have any health issue that's related to sodium right now but I would care about it in near future.

I usually eat or drink that contain sodium, Sprite and Pepsi are two of them and usually nearly meet to daily value.

Oh, I don't know that use much sodium in body would be difficult to lose the weight, is it true?
 
How much salt? We eat two times too much

New CDC study: Americans consume 3,500 milligrams of sodium each day



CHICAGO - People in the United States consume more than twice the recommended amount of salt, raising their risk for high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes, government health experts said on Thursday.

They found nearly 70 percent of U.S. adults are in high-risk groups that would benefit from a lower-salt diet of no more than 1,500 mg per day, yet most consume closer to 3,500 mg per day.

"It's important for people to eat less salt. People who adopt a heart-healthy eating pattern that includes a diet low in sodium and rich in potassium and calcium can improve their blood pressure," Dr. Darwin Labarthe of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement.

"People need to know their recommended daily sodium limit and take action to reduce sodium intake," Labarthe said.

The study in CDC's weekly report on death and disease used national survey data to show that two out of three adults should be consuming no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day because they are black or over the age of 40 — which are considered high-risk groups.

Yet studies show most people in the United States eat 3,436 mg of sodium per day, according to a 2005-2006 CDC estimate.

Most of the sodium eaten comes from packaged, processed and restaurant foods. The CDC said it will join other agencies in the Health and Human Services department in working with major food manufacturers and chain restaurants to reduce sodium levels in the food supply.

Nationwide, 16 million men and women have heart disease and 5.8 million are estimated to have had a stroke. Cutting salt consumption can reduce these risks, the CDC said.

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults in general should consume less than 2,300 mg of sodium or about one teaspoon of salt per day.

How much salt? We eat two times too much - Diet and nutrition- msnbc.com

 
It's depends on individual, not every individual has same health issue and some of them ate alot of sodium for many years and don't get any health problem.

Just like similar to sugar, consume alot of sugars could cause diabete on some individual since others aren't, such as I'm consume about 5-6 soda cans (including 2-3 sodas from vending machine) per day and never got diabete but it did cause on some people.
 
I have a theory about all the sodium in fast food. I believe they load up the food with sodium to keep people thirsty. As a result, people will tend to buy more soda or larger cups of soda.

The smart thing would be to drink more water instead. Thats a problem at some fast food resturants though.

For example, the local DQ here, if you get a cup for water there its a really, really small kids cup, so if you dont want to get up 10 times in one sitting, which most don't, you have to get a bigger cup. The bigger cup, now you cant get that unless you buy a soda as its only for soda.
 
Foxrac said:
It's depends on individual, not every individual has same health issue and some of them ate alot of sodium for many years and don't get any health problem.

Just like similar to sugar, consume alot of sugars could cause diabete on some individual since others aren't, such as I'm consume about 5-6 soda cans (including 2-3 sodas from vending machine) per day and never got diabete but it did cause on some people.
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Sugar does not cause diabetes.

http://www.healthcastle.com/sugar-diabetes.shtml
 
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