Some of the UK’s largest restaurant chains are serving food that is unacceptably high in salt to children, health activists warn.
A third of meals (34%) surveyed by Action on Salt contained 2 g or more of salt — or two-thirds of the maximum daily limit of a four- to six-year-old.
Of the 302 meals studied, 41% were high in salt, with more than 1.8 g. The saltiest meal was Gourmet Burger Kitchen’s cheeseburger with low-fat fries with 4.8g salt.
The study found that similar dishes contained significantly different amounts of salt depending on the restaurant, with Prezzo’s Spaghetti Bolognese containing 3.2g compared to Beefeater Spaghetti Bolognese containing 0.3g.
It’s been three years since our previous investigation uncovered the unacceptably high salt dishes served in UK restaurants, and it’s now abundantly clear that no progress has been made.
Restaurants have been asked to gradually reduce the amount of salt added to their dishes, with a target of no more than 1.71 g for children’s meals.
Nearly half (43%) of survey meals exceeded this level. More than three quarters of meals are served in Gourmet Burger Kitchen and pizza hut exceed the salt target, compared to Brewer’s Fayre, burger king and Ikea where all of their kids’ dishes fell under 1.71g, Action on Salt said.
Action on Salt nutritionist Sonia Pombo said: “It’s been three years since our previous survey was conducted to expose the unacceptably high-salt food served in UK restaurants, and it’s now abundantly clear that no progress has been made.
“These stark new findings should be a wake-up call for the industry to make children’s health a priority.”
Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Queen Mary University of London and chairman of Action on Salt, said: “Gradually reducing the salt added to our food is the most cost-effective measure to lower blood pressure and thereby reduce the thousands of strokes and heart disease caused by this excess salt intake.
“Ministers now need to force recalcitrant restaurants to stop adding all this salt with a mandatory reformulation program, better labeling and restrictions on marketing and promotions to really stop this flood of unhealthy food being served and the future health of our children.” endangers.”