Takeaway Meals Fail Salt Test

INSPECTIONS of takeaway meals sold in the East Riding have revealed “alarmingly high” levels of salt – but measures are in hand to reduce the risks.

A fifth of the takeaways sampled contained more than the maximum daily salt intake for an adult – with a meal of kebab and chips with chilli sauce containing more than twice the recommended intake.

Indian and Chinese takeaways and kebab shops generally came out worse than those selling fish and chips, burgers and pizzas.

East Riding Council’s food service says it will carry out more sampling and in future traders will be contacted and told of the results – particularly when high salt levels are found.

One person in seven in the East Riding suffers from high blood pressure – a risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and other serious conditions.

But the authority is already tackling the problem – by putting new salt shakers with fewer holes into the district’s fish and chip shops.

Already, about 45 of the 100 fish and chips shops have the new shakers and feedback has been “quite positive”.

The shakers have five holes instead of 17 and were designed after research by Gateshead Council in 2005 revealed customers often got huge quantities of salt with their fish and chips – as much as half their entire recommended daily allowance in a single serving.

Environmental health officer John Teahan said: “I think people get used to lower levels of salt – it is just being conditioned to it. If levels come down that’s what you become accustomed to.”

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