Sodium Content of Fast Food Meals
… is waaaay higher than it ought to be, according to this report of a recent study on Obesity Panacea…
In this trial, meals bought from 300 randomly selected chain restaurant locations in New York City during the weekday lunch hour between March 27 to June 8, 2007 were assessed for salt content. A meal was defined as any purchase with at least 1 entrée.
The main findings?
- 56% of meals purchased at fast food outlets contained more sodium than should be consumed during the entire day (>1500mg), with 20% of meals exceeding the uppermost limit for daily sodium intake (>2300mg)
- Chicken fast food places tended to have the worst sodium levels per meal with 83.8% of meals exceeding the daily recommended level (1500mg)
- Only 1 in 36 purchased meals met the Food and Drug Administration “healthy” sodium level for meals (600 mg)
- The high sodium intake wasn’t necessarily driven by a high calorie intake, but rather by a high sodium per calorie ratio, with an average of 2136 mg sodium per 1000 calories purchased. Thus, even those eating lower calorie meals were likely to exceed their daily sodium limit within a single meal.
Take home message:
Stay the hell away from fast-food outlets!’
We already knew that last bit, but there’s more to this proscription than just concerns over excess fat, sugar and calories (bad as those are… ).
May 24, 2010
Sodium Content of Fast Food Meals – http://blog.ultimatefatburner.com/2010/0…
May 25, 2010
Most places operate on the theory that salt=flavor. You can tell when you eat at most any restaurant that the food is highly seasoned (salted).
I’m sure that fast food chicken or anything with a breading, is highly salted.
Good advice, “stay the hell away”.
June 7, 2010
Is Subway’s stuff okay? I’m trying to watch my sodium too, but I go there on occasion when I get bored with my eating schedule (I’m bulking right now). I get a footlong chicken breast w/ lots of veggies, always skip the cheese and other seasonings.
June 8, 2010
Subway’s stuff isn’t low, either. According to their nutrition menu (http://www.subway.com/applications/NutritionInfo/nutritionlist.aspx?id=sandwich ) a footlong oven-roasted chicken sandwich contains 1490mg of sodium. If you’re skipping the cheese and seasonings, you’re likely trimming that down somewhat, but I imagine there’s a fair bit of it in the chicken itself, which makes it tough to eliminate.
Nonetheless, since it’s a once-in-a-while type thing, and your overall sodium intake is reduced, the occasional indulgence isn’t likely to be a problem. A lot of people are eating fast food every day, so are at much greater risk.