June 10, 2003 – Some ready meals sold in supermarkets for children contain more than 40% of the recommended daily intake of salt.
This is the alarming conclusion reached by a study commissioned by the British government. Seven different dishes were studied, namely shepherd’s pie, macaroni and cheese, lasagna, spaghetti with meatballs, chicken nuggets with fries, and chicken with rice.
In several cases, the product contained more than 40% of the recommended daily salt intake for children, which London sets at five grams per day. No similar standard exists in Canada, but the US government recommends less than 2.5 grams for healthy adults and children. Australia, for its part, is preparing to publish new guidelines that would warn parents, among other things, of the dangers associated with high salt consumption for their children.
A McGill University researcher recently warned that high blood pressure in young people is the main public health problem of the new decade (see the PasseportSanté.net article on this subject, dated March 7, 2003). Eating a lot of salt can contribute to high blood pressure.
Note in closing that the so-called “regular” or “health” preparations did not do much better in the context of the British study. In the first case, 83% of the dishes analyzed contained more than 40% of the recommended daily salt intake (a certain dish even provided 98%). The “healthy” versions contained a little less, but one still provided 60% of the recommended daily allowance.
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
From Food Standards Agency and The Advertiser; May 15 and June 10, 2003.
