This is the most unhealthy Chinese takeout dish you can order
Some dishes contain five times more salt than a Big Mac
Some dishes contain five times more salt than a Big Mac
Some dishes contain five times more salt than a Big Mac
There's nothing better than a spread of to accompany a Saturday night in. But while we might very well enjoy the arrival of duck pancakes, noodles and whatever else we like to order, it seems our bodies don't welcome the feast in quite the same way.
Campaign group Action For Salt in the U.K. revealed in 2018 just how much salt tend to contain, and it's not good.
After analyzing more than 150 dishes from six London Chinatown restaurants, the reports they discovered some contained half an of salt. Much worse than that, some of the worst offenders were found to contain five times as much salt as a Big Mac (2.3g).
Main courses were found to have the highest salt content, with beef in black bean sauce working its way to the top of the list with more than 6g. Pair that with a serving of , and you're looking at around 11.5g of salt in one meal — almost double your daily intake.
Spare ribs and crispy aromatic duck were some of the dishes found to contain lesser levels of salt, on the other hand.
But it's not just takeout restaurants that were investigated. Researchers also assessed Chinese meals bought at supermarkets and found a wide variety of salt levels, so it's worth checking the nutritional information on the back of any premade meals before you buy them.
The war on salt is something Public Health England has been fighting for some time, and after pressuring the food industry to reduce how much salt it adds, it's seen results.
"A loaf of bread has 40 percent less (salt) than it used to," said. PHE's chief nutritionist, Dr. Alison Tedstone. "However, some products are still too high in salt, and we know this can be reduced further."
For a lighter take on a takeout fave, checkout the recipe above!