High street restaurant dishes contain more salt than McDonald's
PizzaExpress came in top with its Napoletana Pizza containing 9.6g of salt. This was followed by Barburrito’s Beef burrito wrap at 8 grams while pub chain Wetherspoons Gammon and Eggs came in at 8.8 grams of salt.
Chains including Ask, Beefeater and Harvester also featured on the top 10 restaurant chains with the highest salt dish.
However, the operators with the least saltiest dishes were also from some of the same restaurant chains.
Yo Sushi came in lowest for its Tuna sashimi at 0.1 grams followed by Ask Spaghetti Bolognese at 0.3 grams and Wagamama Sirloin and Shitake Mushroom Salad at 0.6 grams. Wetherspoons, which scored highly for its Gammon and Eggs, also offers a low salt Salmon salad at 0.6 grams.
Many fast-food operators, which have had a lot of criticism about health of their foods fared better. Burger King Whopper and fries came in the highest salt at 3.7 g per serving. This was followed by KFC fully loaded box meal at 3.44 grams and Domino’s Personal Pepperoni Passion at 3.35 grams.
However, the report was critical as it could only find information for a limited selection of the high street chains. It praised the chains in its research for being transparent with their nutritional information.
NHS guidelines recommend adults eat no more than 6g of salt a day, equivalent to around one teaspoon.
Amount of salt in chain restaurant dishes:
Restaurant | Style | Dish name | Salt per serving (g) |
Pizza Express | Italian | Napoletana | 9.6 |
Barburrito | Street food | Beef burrito wrap* | 9 |
Wetherspoons | Pub food | Gammon and eggs | 8.8 |
Ask | Italian | Risotto pescatore | 8.6 |
Beefeater | Pub food | Mixed grill | 8.1 |
Harvester | Farmhouse | Mixed grill | 8.01 |
Wagamama | Japanese | Grilled duck ramen | 7.6 |
Zizzi | Italian | King prawn diavola rustica | 7.5 |
Tortilla | Street food | Barbacoa burrito** | 7.4 |
Nando's | Mozambican | Chicken livers and crispy Portuguese roll | 5.1 |
Yo Sushi | Japanese | Chicken yakisoba | 4.3 |
Loch Fyne | Seafood | Chorizo and seafood fregola | 3.43 |
Leon | Healthy | Moroccan meatballs hot box | 3 |
Fast food outlets:
Chain | Dish name | Salt per serving (g) |
Burger King | Whopper and regular fires | 3.7 |
KFC | Fully loaded box meal | 3.44 |
Domino's | Personal Pepperoni Passion | 3.35 |
Taco Bell | Double Decker Taco and Regular Nacho Chips | 3.1 |
McDonald's | Big Mac and Regular Fries | 2.9 |
Subway | 6-inch Italian Subway Melt | 2.3 |
Wimpy | The Original Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal | 2.1 |
Pizza Hut | Small Italian Supreme | 2.04 |
Read the full set of results on Dr Wayne's medical blog here.