WASH study reveals high levels of salt in children’s meals

A 2015 global survey carried out by World Action on Salt and Health (WASH) and supported by the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa (HSFSA) investigated the salt content of 387 popular kid’s meal combinations.

KFC said it has also been committed to reformulating a number of its products and ingredients to reduce the salt content in its food worldwide.

Salt is regarded as the single most contributing factor to hypertension, which can also lead to strokes and kidney failure.

New research reveals that fast food chains are serving up kids’ meals that are dangerously high in salt.

Fast food in popular chain restaurants can be more unhealthy on holiday, parents have been warned, after a survey found that children’s meals can have double the amount of salt overseas as they do in Britain. And adults are advised to stay under 6 grams, or roughly one teaspoon, every day.

This amounts to as much as ten packets of salted chips. The UK Scientific Advisory Council on Nutrition recommends the same amount as the entire daily allowance for a child aged between four and six years.

The UK performed better than most countries, with its Burger King kids meal burger and fries containing 1.06g of salt and its Subway Kids Pak turkey sub containing 1g, compared to Finland (2.54g) and Germany (1.5g) respectively.

McDonalds said it was continuing to reduce salt in its meals both in the UK and overseas. “That is why it is vitally important that children do not get used to the taste of salt”.

“South Africa is one of the countries with high rates of hypertension and it is concerning to hear that some of these outlets have such high salt content in their food”. “The more salt you eat as a child, the more likely you are to have serious health issues in later life”, MacGregor said.

The highest salt level for KFC was in Costa Rica at 5.34g, and for McDonald’s it was 2.4g in Turkey.

For example, the fries at KFC stores in Canada contain 1.92 grams of salt per serving; in the United Kingdom, they contain only 0.113 grams.