US tops salty fast food league table

The salt content of items sold by international fast food chains can vary substantially both between different food items and even for the same item sold in different countries, a new study published in CMAJ, the journal of the Canadian Medical Association, has found (doi:10.1503/cmaj.111895).

The authors believe that there are no technical reasons for salt to be added at high levels and therefore that it should be possible to significantly reduce the overall use of salt in fast food.

Hypertension and associated health problems are associated with high consumption of salt in the Western diet. About three …