Search icon

Food and Drink

15th Mar 2018

The Worst Dishes You Can Order From A Chinese Takeaway Have Almost ‘Toxic Levels’ Of Salt

Sarah

Prawn crackers. Beef chow mein. Crispy duck pancakes and some prawn toast to finish it all off. What a glorious feast that would be. 

Getting a Chinese takeaway on a Wednesday night when you’re chilling in your scruffiest dressing gown and can’t be arsed cooking something is a joy that never goes unappreciated. 

But did you know that the worst dish you can order from the Chinese has near toxic levels of salt? 

An analysis of Chinese takeaway meals purchased from six independent restaurants in London’s famous Chinatown district revealed 97% contained a hefty 2g of salt or more per dish. Over half (58%) contained more than 3g of salt per dish – which is half an adult’s maximum recommended daily intake in one portion alone. 

Combining side dishes would consequently provide far more salt than the recommended daily limit for the whole day (6g/day).

A new report commissioned by Action Salt found that the saltiest takeaway main with a rice/noodle side dish contained a staggering 11.50g salt (Beef in Black Bean Sauce and Vegetable Noodles from Wong Kei restaurant), the equivalent of five Big Macs1, and getting near to the acute toxic levels of salt.

Beef in black bean sauce dishes were the saltiest on average (1.27g/100g), whilst sweet and sour dishes were the least salty (0.54g/100g on average).

Ugh. That’s our greedy evenings in ruined… 

READ NEXT: There’s A Huge Irish Celebration Taking Place In Liverpool This Summer

Topics: