Abstract

Excessive intake of sodium (salt) may have higher risk of developing hypertension.  Untreated high blood pressure can lead to heart attack, stroke and kidney failure, etc.  The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) and the Consumer Council (CC) thus have conducted a joint study to examine the nutrient content (including sodium and energy) of Asian-style noodles-in-soup dishes commonly available in Hong Kong, in order to assist the public to make informed choices when eating out; to encourage the trade to take actions to reduce sodium content of Asian-style noodles-in-soup dishes; as well as to facilitate the initiative on calorie indication on menus.

The Study

2. The study covered 10 types (100 samples) of non-prepackaged Asian-style noodles-in-soup dishes collected from Chinese and Asian cuisine restaurants, as well as fast-food chains during April to June 2017.  These samples were tested for sodium content and energy level by the Food Research Laboratory. In addition, 10 samples of prepackaged cup and bowl noodles were obtained from supermarkets and convenient stores, and their sodium contents and energy levels as declared on nutrition labelling were examined.

Sodium content

3. The mean, minimum and maximum sodium contents per 100 g of the 10 types of Asian-style noodles-in-soup dish samples are summarised in the table below.  Among the 10 types of Asian-style noodles-in-soup dishes, mean sodium content of “Noodles in Tom Yum Soup” ranked the highest whereas that of “Noodles with assorted seafood in spicy soup” ranked the lowest.  One sample of “Noodles in Tom Yum Soup” and one sample of “Spicy rice noodles with pork belly and cuttlefish ball” were considered high in sodium content (> 600 mg/100 g).

Energy level

4. The mean, minimum and maximum energy levels per 100 g of the 10 types of Asian-style noodles-in-soup dish samples are summarised in the table below. Among the 10 types of Asian-style noodles-in-soup dishes, mean energy level of “Dan Dan noodles with spicy and minced pork” ranked the highest whereas that of “Pho with thin sliced beef” ranked the lowest.

5. Nutrition labelling of 10 prepackaged cup and bowl noodle samples were examined. The mean sodium content per portion was 1900 mg, which nearly reaches the daily limit of sodium intake of 2,000 mg as recommended by WHO; while the mean energy level per portion was 380 kcal.

Comparison against WHO's recommended daily intake upper limit for sodium

6. The mean sodium contributions of the 10 types of non-prepackaged Asian-style noodles-in-soup dishes to WHO’s recommended limit of daily intake (2,000 mg sodium per day) are summarised in the table below. Among all 100 noodles-in-soup dish samples, one portion of noodles-in-soup dish contained 2,700 mg of sodium on average, which has already exceeded the daily limit of sodium intake. Over three quarters of the samples contained sodium contents over WHO’s recommended limit of daily intake in one portion, while all samples contained sodium contents over one-third of that limit in one portion.

7. When noodles-in-soup dishes were consumed with no soup, sodium intake was reduced by half when comparing with consuming all soup, but one serve of food portion has already contributed a mean of 75% of WHO's recommended limit of daily sodium intake. Nearly one-fifth of the samples contained sodium contents over WHO's recommended limit of daily intake in one food portion, while only one sample contained sodium contents within one-third of that limit in one food portion.

Advice to Consumers

• Take note of the study results; beware of Asian-style noodles-in-soup dishes with high sodium or energy content and not to choose noodles-in-soup dishes that are high in sodium content frequently.
• Ask for “less salt” or “less salty” option of the food when ordering, or request less sauce or condiments to be added.
• Try not to consume soup when having noodles-in-soup dishes.
• Beware of the portion size of noodles-in-soup dishes. Share with others when the portion size is large.
• Sauce and condiments usually put on the table of these Asian-style restaurants are sources of dietary sodium intake, limit the amount added or taste before adding.
• Reduce the amount of seasoning powder and sauce added to prepackaged cup and bowl noodles.
• Apart from sodium content, other nutrition information (e.g. energy/calorie content) is also important.

Advice to the Trade

• Make reference to the CFS’ “Trade Guidelines for Reducing Sodium in Foods” to reduce sodium content in food through recipe reformulation, such as reducing the use of salt or sodium-containing condiments (e.g. fish sauce, soy sauce and chicken powder) during marinating and cooking soup; or using more natural/fresh ingredients (e.g. lemon, chili and herbs).
• Reduce the sodium content of soup. In order to enable consumers to choose the flavor and sodium content of noodles-in-soup dishes according to their preference, let the consumers decide the amount of sauce and condiments to be added.
• Apart from providing the standard portion size of noodles-in-soup dishes, offer noodles dishes in smaller portion size for consumers to choose based on their needs.
• Seasoning powder and sauce of some prepackaged cup and bowl noodles are put together with the noodles during packaging, and hence consumers have no choice to decide how much seasoning to be added. It is recommended to put seasoning in separate sachet to let consumers to decide the amount to be added.
• Display nutrition information (particularly energy/calorie, sodium/salt) of noodles-in-soup dishes on menus, price list and other printed materials.

More Information

8. The related article is published in the CHOICE MAGAZINE (Issue 496) released on 14 February 2018 (Chinese only).

 

February 2018
Risk Assessment Section
Centre for Food Safety
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department