Restaurant Meals Loaded with Salt

Sodium Levels in Some Eateries too High

May 11, 2009 Rupert Taylor

Some restaurant meals contain more than a day's allowance of salt in a single serving; occasionally, meals exceed three days' worth.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) in Washington, D.C. has published a report, “Heart Attack Entrées with Side Orders of Stroke,” on salt levels in restaurant meals. The non-profit food safety group says its May 11, 2009 report is aimed at “exposing chain restaurant meals with dangerously high levels of sodium and is renewing its call on industry and government to lower sodium levels in foods.”

Red Lobster’s Admiral’s Feast Has Highest Sodium Content

Mashed potatoes topped with creamy lobster, Caesar salad with dressing, and one Cheddar Bay Biscuit adds up to 7,106 mg of salt. That meal is served up at the Red Lobster chain as “The Admiral’s Feast” and the saltiest dish in the CSPI study.

The group says that “People with high blood pressure, African Americans, and people middle-aged and older - 70 percent of the population - should consume no more than 1,500 milligrams (mg) of sodium daily, according to the government’s dietary advice. Others should consume no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day.

“…for some, particularly the elderly, consuming 4,000 mg or more of sodium in a single meal can present an immediate risk of heart failure or other serious problems.”

Healthy Chain-Restaurant Meal Hard to Find

CSPI researchers looked at the offerings of 17 restaurant chains and found “that 85 out of 102 meals had more than a day’s worth of sodium, and some had more than four days’ worth.” The group added that it is almost impossible to find a chain-restaurant meal that delivers a reasonably safe level of salt.

Some of the worst offenders it identified, after The Admiral’s Feast, are:

• “Chili’s Buffalo Chicken Fajitas (with tortillas and condiments) and a Dr. Pepper: 6,916 mg;
• “Chili’s Honey-Chipotle Ribs with Mashed Potatoes with Gravy, Seasonal Vegetables, and a Dr. Pepper: 6,440 mg;
• “Olive Garden Tour of Italy (lasagna) with a Breadstick, Garden Fresh Salad with House Dressing, and a Coca-Cola: 6,176 mg; and,
• “Olive Garden Chicken Parmigiana with a Breadstick, Garden Fresh Salad with House Dressing, and Raspberry Lemonade: 5,735 mg.”

High Health Risk of High Salt Consumption

Michael F. Jacobson is the executive director of The Center for Science in the Public Interest and he doesn’t pull any punches over the results of the study: “Who knows how many Americans have been pushed prematurely into their graves thanks to sodium levels like those found in Olive Garden, Chili’s, and Red Lobster? These chains are sabotaging the food supply. They should cut back and give consumers the freedom to decide for themselves how much salt they want.”

Lives could Be Saved

Dr. Stephen Havas, is an adjunct professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a former vice president for science, quality, and public health of the American Medical Association. The Center quotes him as estimating that cutting the sodium content in packaged food and restaurant meals by half could save the lives of 150,000 Americans who die prematurely from hypertension (high blood pressure).

There’s money to be saved as well.

“Americans spend north of $15 billion to treat high blood pressure, and many billions more on expensive heart procedures, yet the government spends peanuts improving Americans’ diets,” said CSPI’s Michael Jacobson. He adds that “reducing sodium consumption by just 25 percent over the next 10 years could save the government $9 billion a year in direct medical costs.”

The copyright of the article Restaurant Meals Loaded with Salt in Nutrition is owned by Rupert Taylor. Permission to republish Restaurant Meals Loaded with Salt in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Meals Are Overloaded with Salt.