Study: UK “Healthy Option” Salads are Still Very High in Salt

30 Jul 2014 --- Huge amounts of salt continue to be added to many restaurant, café and supermarket salads, according to a new survey by Consensus Action on Salt & Health (CASH). Calls to lower salt in salads in 2010 has however resulted in “significant” reductions (up to 30%) of salt in many supermarket salads, said CASH, but there is more work to be done, particularly in the restaurant sector.

CASH surveyed 650 ready-to-eat salads available for purchase from supermarkets, restaurants, cafes and fast food restaurants and found nearly three quarters (77% - 511 products) to contain more salt than a packet of crisps (0.5g/portion). The findings included:

Of the out of home salads:
• A McDonald’s ‘Crispy Chicken & Bacon Salad’ has MORE salt (1.3g vs 1.2g), fat (19g vs 8g) and calories (380kcal vs 250kcal) per portion than a McDonald’s Hamburger.
• Pizza Express’ ‘Grand Chicken Caesar Salad’ contains 5.3g salt/serving, the equivalent of two and a half Big Macs, and almost your whole days’ worth of salt (6g) in just one meal.
• Pizza Express’ ‘Warm Vegetable & Goats Cheese Salad’ contains 5g salt/serving – four fifths (83%) of your maximum recommended intake.
• Wagamama’s ‘Lobster Super Salad’ contains 4.5g salt/serving – three quarters (75%) of your salt limit for the day in just one meal.
• Nando’s ‘Mediterranean Salad with Chicken Breast’ contains a 4.00g salt/serving, that’s two thirds (67%) our maximum recommended intake.

Of the supermarket salads:
• Morrisons ‘Chicken & Bacon Pasta Salad’ 2.8g salt/290g serving
• Marks & Spencer ‘Chicken, Bacon & Sweetcorn Pasta Salad’ 2.58g salt/380g serving
• Boots ‘Delicious Simply Tuna & Sweetcorn Pasta Salad’ 2.25g salt/300g serving
• John West ‘Light Lunch Moroccan Style Salmon Salad’ 2.2g salt/220g serving

The survey found that over one in ten (15%) salads would get a red (high) colour for salt, and two thirds (69%) would receive an amber (medium) colour.

Sonia Pombo, a nutritionist at CASH explains: “Say the word ‘salad’ and you tend to imagine a bowl of healthy stuff nestled amongst some leaves, but that’s not accurate. Whilst salad itself is both healthy and tasty, food manufacturers and restaurants continue to add unnecessary salt to the dish, which not only alters the taste and makes you feel bloated, but more seriously, can lead to high blood pressure – the main cause of strokes and heart attacks.”

In 2010, CASH conducted a similar salad survey and thankfully the average salt content in supermarkets salads has reduced significantly by 35% since 2005, from 1.64g/portion to 1.26g/portion in 2010 and to1.05g/portion in 2014.

Graham MacGregor, CASH Chairman and Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Wolfson Institute, Queen Mary University of London says “It is nonsensical that something as seemingly healthy as a salad should contain an ingredient that is proven to be harmful to your health. Whilst we congratulate the responsible manufacturers that have gradually reduced the salt in their products, we urge ALL manufacturers to sign up to the Department of Health’s 2017 salt pledge [Ref 8] and to cut the salt in their dishes now. Many salads are deceptively high in salt, and the very large variation of salt content shows that the highest ones can easily be reduced. The food industry needs to show much greater responsibility for its customers’ health.”