Salad not always the healthiest option, according to survey on salt levels

26th August 2010, 10:19am

One in ten salads purchased on the high street at cafes and fast food chains contain more salt than a Big Mac according to a new study by CASH.

The results of the survey of more than 270 salad and pasta bowls from high street cafes and fast food chains have revealed that eating a salad for lunch can mean consuming more than half of your maximum recommended daily salt intake.

The research, which was conducted by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH), found that high levels of salt were found in a range of salads with one in ten salads containing more salt than a McDonalds Big Mac.

The results mean that eating just one of these salads would take up more than half of the recommended maximum 6 grams of salt per day.

Top scorer in the high salt stakes was a spicy crayfish noodle salad from EAT which contains "a massive" 3.51g of salt per portion. That is over 17 times saltier than a Pret no bread tricolore with balsamic dressing, which contains only 0.2g of salt per portion.

The other saltiest high street café/fast food salads include Pret super (Duper) humous salad with French dressing which contains 3.2g salt per portion and the KFC zinger salad with caesar dressing or low fat vinaigrette dressing which contains 3.1g salt per portion.

Other salty offenders included the McDonalds crispy chicken and bacon salad with low fat caesar salad dressing or low fat balsamic dressing, which contains 2.6g salt per serving.

According to Professor Graham MacGregor of the Wolfson Institute of Preventative Medicine and chairman of CASH said: "It is absurd that only 6 salads contain less salt than a packet of crisps.

"Clearly the manufacturers still have a long way to go if we are to reduce our salt intake to 6g a day and save the maximum number of lives.

"Every gram of salt removed from our diet is estimated to prevent 6,000 deaths from heart attacks, heart disease and strokes per year, creating potential healthcare savings of £1.5billion per year."

Related Articles:

• 13 Aug 2010 - It's in the bag
• 22 Jun 2010 - NICE calls for food industry to reduce salt and saturated fats

Click here to submit a comment!

Have your say!

To comment on this article, simply enter your name and email and send us your views. Please note that your comment will appear publicly below this article once it has been processed. For enquiries please email info@eatoutmagazine.co.uk.