A new study from the University of Reading has found that many popular takeout meals in the UK contain more salt than what their menus claim. This means people might be eating far more salt than they realize, which could affect their health.
The researchers tested 39 different takeout meals from 23 restaurants in Reading, including both well-known chains and smaller local spots. They wanted to find out how accurate the salt information on menus really is and whether similar meals from different places had very different amounts of salt.
What they found was concerning. Nearly half—47%—of the meals tested had more salt than listed on the menu. Some pasta, pizza, and curry dishes had salt levels that were much higher than the recommended daily amount.
For example, a single pasta dish had over 11 grams of salt. The UK guideline for adults is to eat no more than 6 grams of salt a day. That means some people are getting nearly double the healthy limit in just one meal.
The worst offenders were pasta dishes, which had an average of 7.2 grams of salt per portion. One even reached 11.2 grams. Meat pizzas were also high in salt, averaging 1.6 grams of salt per 100 grams of food. Curry dishes had the widest range, with some containing as little as 2.3 grams and others as much as 9.4 grams.
On the other hand, chips from fish and chip shops had the least salt—just 0.2 grams per serving—because salt is usually added only after cooking and only if the customer wants it. In comparison, chips from other restaurants averaged 1 gram per serving.
Professor Gunter Kuhnle, who led the study, said that the salt content on menus is often based on estimates. Because different cooks use different ingredients and portion sizes, it is hard for restaurants to provide exact numbers without testing each meal in a lab.
He explained that while packaged food in stores has become less salty in recent years, eating out can still mean eating more salt than is healthy.
He also said that menu labels are supposed to help people make healthier choices, but they often don’t give the full picture. When nearly half of meals with salt labels contain more salt than they say, it’s clear that those numbers should be seen as rough guesses, not exact facts.
This is a serious issue because eating too much salt can raise blood pressure and increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. According to the World Health Organization, high salt intake is linked to around 1.8 million deaths each year across the globe.
The takeaway from this study is clear: people should be cautious when ordering takeout meals, especially if they are trying to eat less salt for health reasons. Just because a menu says a dish is low in salt doesn’t mean it actually is. Choosing simpler dishes, asking for no added salt, or skipping the salty sides could help people stay within healthy limits.
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The study is published in PLOS One.
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