Recently, a campaign group has allegedly accused Chinese takeaway meals from restaurants and supermarkets for putting too much salt in their takeaways.
The group, Action on Salt, says "They should carry health warnings because they are often high in salt" as their report published on Tuesday reflects just how much salt is in everyone's diets.
The group analyzed more than 150 dishes and found some contained half an adult's recommended 6g (0.2oz) daily allowance of salt.
In addition to that, the main courses, such as beef in black bean sauce, topped the salty list. If you added a serving of egg fried rice to your order could deliver anything between an extra 5.3g and 2.3g of salt.
While adding side dishes and dipping sauces to your meal could provide nearly another 4g salt per person, the findings revealed that few of the takeaway restaurant dishes came in at under 2g of salt.
Prawn crackers and vegetable spring rolls ranged from 0.8g to 1.4g of salt per portion.
Supermarket-bought Chinese meals also varied widely in salt content.
Spare ribs and crispy aromatic duck were towards the bottom of the list, while saucy rice or noodle-based dishes were higher up.
However, unsurprisingly, soy sauce, which tastes salty, contains more salt than some other dipping sauces, but sweet ones, such as chili sauce or plum sauce, may also contain lots.
How much salt do we need in our body?
According to healthline.com, an average person needs 1500 mg of sodium amounts to 0.75 teaspoons or 3.75 grams of salt per day, while 2300 mg amounts to one teaspoon or 6 grams of salt per day.
However, most people today are eating much more than that. The average intake of sodium is about 3400 mg, most of it coming from processed foods.
Scientists have been warning us about it for decades and have spent a massive amount of resources warning us about the "dangers" of it.
The reason they do so is because sodium is believed be capable of increase blood pressure, a common risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
Checking the nutritional values on food packaging can help you check how much salt you will be eating.
Sodium is a crucial electrolyte in the body. Many foods contain small amounts of sodium naturally, but most of the sodium in the diet comes from salt.
Salt is made of sodium (40% by weight) and chloride (60% by weight).
What sodium does in the body is to bind water and maintain intracellular and extracellular fluids in the right balance.
It is also an electrically charged molecule, and along with potassium helps maintain electrical gradients across cell membranes, which is critical for nerve transmission, muscular contraction, and various other functions.
The body can NOT function without sodium. Period.
On the other hand, "too much sodium can really kill you"
Of the 141 ready meals analyzed, 43% were high in salt, meaning they would typically carry a red notification label on the pack.
Too much salt can raise your blood pressure, which puts you at increased risk of health problems such as heart disease and stroke.
Most of the salt we eat is already in everyday foods, rather than added at the table.
Public Health England has been encouraging the food industry to cut salt levels in food.
PHE's chief nutritionist Dr Alison Tedstone said: "A loaf of bread has 40% less than it used to.
"However, some products are still too high in salt and we know this can be reduced further.
"We've been very clear with the food industry on the importance of meeting the 2017 salt targets.
"We'll report on their progress this year and on any necessary advice to government on the next steps."
