Restaurant Chains Adding More Salt to Children’s Meals?

It was found that 37% of 351 children’s main meals across 26 chains contained over 2g of salt in each portion, increasing by 9% since 2015 showing that 40% of the tested dishes contain more salt than they did four years ago.  This was discovered by a campaign group based at Queen Mary University of London, Action on Salt.

It has been stated this year that the saltiest dish contained 5.3g of salt, equating to 11 bags of crisps, which came from TGI Friday’s chicken burger with fries and baked beans.  Public Health England had set a target that all meals out of the house should contain no more than 1.8g per serving in children’s meals back in 2017 but it is clear that some companies didn’t keep up with that suggestion.  Other dishes that included alarmingly high salt levels were from JD Weatherspoon, Chiquito’s and Pizza Hut.

It is clear that we need a change when it comes to what goes into our food, and that restaurant chains should commit and make more of an effort to reduce the amount of salt added into meals, for children’s meals and the rest.

Though some may believe that parents can order on behalf of their children to ensure they have a less salty meal, isn’t it time that the industry worked on lessening the salt levels and promoting a transparent, healthier menu?