Ordering a curry, a pasta dish, or a pizza for takeaway may be saltier than the menu lets on — sometimes dramatically so — according to new research from the University of Reading that raises questions about the accuracy of restaurant nutrition labeling.
Researchers purchased 39 takeaway meals from 23 outlets across Reading, UK, spanning both major national chains and independent restaurants, then tested each meal’s actual salt content against what was listed on the menu. Among meals that provided salt information at all, 47 percent contained more salt than advertised.
The worst offenders were pasta dishes, which averaged 7.2 grams of salt per serving — already more than the UK’s entire recommended daily intake of 6 grams in a single meal. One pasta dish contained as much as 11.2 grams, nearly double the daily limit. Curry dishes showed the widest variation of any category, ranging from 2.3 to 9.4 grams of salt depending on the restaurant, while meat pizzas had the highest salt concentration by weight, averaging 1.6 grams per 100 grams.
Surprisingly, one of the UK’s most iconic takeaway meals came out looking relatively healthy on this measure: fish and chips. Because salt at traditional fish and chip shops is typically added by hand after cooking, and often only upon request, the dish had one of the lowest salt contents in the study.
“We conducted this research because we suspected that many menu labels were inaccurate on salt,” said Professor Gunter Kuhnle, who led the study, published in the journal PLOS One. “Variations in preparation methods, ingredients used and portion sizes mean food labels are often guesswork. It’s virtually impossible to know exactly how much salt is being added to your dinner.” Kuhnle noted that while packaged supermarket foods have seen gradual salt reductions in recent years as manufacturers reformulate their products, restaurant and takeaway food has not seen the same progress.
The World Health Organization estimates that excess salt intake contributes to 1.8 million deaths worldwide each year, largely by raising blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease. The researchers say their findings point to a need for clearer, more consistently enforced nutrition labeling at restaurants, not just on packaged foods sold in shops.
