Think Twice Before Eating Instant Noodles! They Contain High Amounts of Salt And Sugar

A single serving of instant noodles contain about 5.8 grams of salt, but, the daily recommended intake of salt is only 6 grams a day.

Instant noodles contain more amount of salt than twelve packets of crisps, according to a recent survey. A campaign group called Consensus Action on Salt & Health (CASH) surveyed 131 products, and the findings were shocking.

Ko-Lee Instant Noodles Chicken Flavor contained 5.8 grams of salt, a staggering 97% of the maximum recommended daily salt intake. About 100 grams portion of Nissin Demae Ramen Chicken Flavor Noodles contained 5.5 grams of salt per serving, and that 90 grams of Ko-Lee Instant Noodles Mixed Vegetable came with 5.1 grams of salt.

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‘Check the food labels for salt and sugar content before purchasing to stop adding unnecessary amounts of salt and sugar to everyday foods.’

In the UK, the maximum recommended salt intake per day is 6 grams. The least salty of the products tested was Morrisons BBQ Beef Flavor Noodles- each had 0.4g of salt per serving. Instant noodles with chicken flavor have the highest salt content.

As many as 48 products could have got a red flag warning for salt content under the Department of Health's front of pack nutrition labeling guidance. Another 76 products could have got an amber warning, according to the survey.

Nineteen products contained 50% or more of the daily maximum recommended intake of salt. The sugar levels in instant noodles were also studied. The survey found that there were more than two teaspoons of sugar per serving in 46 of the products. Some noodles had up to four teaspoons of sugar per serving.

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Sharwood's Noodle Bowl Sweet Chilli Sauce contained 17.4 grams sugars per serving, had 58% of the daily-recommended maximum intake of free sugars, followed by Kabuto Noodles Prawn Tom Yum and Kabuto Noodles Chilli Chicken Ramen, which contained 15.3 grams of sugars per serving.

Nutritionist and campaigner for World Action on Salt and Health (WASH), Saadia Noorani, said, "The results of our research found that the highest salt content products were from international brands whereas some of the lowest salt content products were from retailers' own brands.”

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"With the majority of salt in our diet coming from processed foods, global food manufactures need to do much more to reduce the huge amounts of unnecessary salt in their products."

Professor Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Queen Mary University of London and chairman of CASH, said, "This is a perfect example of the scandal of parts of the food industry of adding large and unnecessary amounts of salt and sugar to a simple product. It is clear that voluntary targets are not working in the UK."

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Kawther Hashem, nutritionist, and researcher for the Action on Sugar campaign, said, “It's "surprising" that some savory foods contained four teaspoons of sugar per serving. We urge shoppers to check the label before purchasing and food manufacturers to stop adding large amounts of completely unnecessary sugar to our everyday foods. High sugar intake contributes to tooth decay, obesity and type 2 diabetes."

Source-Medindia