Hong Kong style savoury dishes are the favorites of many city dwellers habitually eating out, three meals a day. But careless food choices could put them in jeopardy of excessive intake of sodium and fat, both are detrimental to health in the long run. The Consumer Council has collaborated with the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) in a test on 10 popular dishes with 100 samples involved. Sure enough the test unveiled some of these dishes were steep in salt or fat content. Topping the list of sodium content was steamed minced pork patty with salted egg, followed by fish fillet in sweet corn sauce, and sautéed French bean with pork and Chinese preserved olive. The steamed pork patty with salted egg had also the dubious distinction of highest in total fat content. Indeed, behind what looks like a perfectly normal menu may lurk risks of excessive nutrients in many dishes with sodium intake easily doubling the World Health Organization (WHO) daily limit.
As is evident in the test the same dish prepared by different restaurant kitchens could vary by manifold in nutrient content, reflecting clearly there is ample room for restaurants to reduce salt, and to offer more healthy choices to consumers. Furthermore, consideration should be given also to replacing condiments with natural food ingredients.
The test covered 10 dishes totaling 100 samples drawn from Chinese restaurants, local style cafes and fast food outlets. Steamed pork patty with salted egg was shown to contain the highest sodium, averaging 530mg per 100g. The top 3 samples in sodium content among the 100 samples all went to steamed pork patty dish with salted egg – the highest 730mg/100g followed by second and third placing both 650mg/100g.
According to the CFS’s guidelines, food containing more than 600mg/100g sodium is classified as “high sodium” food, the 3 samples of steamed pork patty with salted egg were all in excess of the level of “high sodium” food.
The use of salted eggs, a preserved food, in a recipe will naturally increase the sodium content. But the test found varying levels of sodium across all the 10 dishes: the least (240mg/100g) was a twofold difference compared with the highest sodium sample. Thus, with skilful culinary cooking, the sodium content can be effectively reduced in food and the dishes are still be acceptable to consumers. In some instances, soy sauce was added on top of the dish steamed pork patty with salted egg before serving. The Council suggests soy sauce be served separately, allowing customers to decide for themselves the amount (if any) to use.
In the test, the 2 dishes closely following the steamed meat patty with salted egg dish were fish fillet in sweet corn sauce, and sautéed French bean with minced pork and Chinese preserved olive, both with an average sodium content of 450mg/100g. Scrambled egg with shrimp followed next, with an average of 440mg/100g.
Lowest in sodium content of the 10 dishes was sweet and sour pork with pineapple with an average of 240mg/100g. But consumers should take note that though sweet and sour dishes may contain lower sodium, their sugar content is relatively higher. The sweet and sour pork’s sugar content was on average of 10g/100g, with a serving portion of the highest sample reaching a daily sugar intake of near one’s need in a day. Similarly, beef fillet in sweet and sour sauce was relatively low in sodium, with an average of only 340mg/100g, in 7th placing of the 10 dishes, but its sugar content, 6.9g/100g, was only second to sweet and sour pork.
On fat content, the top 3 were: steamed pork patty with salted egg, scrambled egg with shrimp and sweet and sour pork with pineapple with, 20g, 18g and 15g of total fat per 100g respectively. According to the CFS’s guidelines, total fat content of more than 20g/100g is classified as “high fat” food. In the test, 7 samples were found to reach this level – 4 steamed pork patties with salted egg, 2 scrambled egg with shrimp and 1 beef fillet in sweet and sour sauce.
On the basis of the test results, the Council simulated two groups of meal combination for consumption of 2 persons. In one group considered a more healthy choice consisted of fish fillet with sweet corn sauce, scrambled egg with shrimp and boiled Chinese flowering cabbage (without oil and salt), with Chinese-style soup and steamed rice. Nevertheless, the sodium intake of 2,700mg would exceed WHO recommended daily limit by 37%; 70g of total fat also in excess of the limit by 6%; based on a 2000 kcal diet; 1300 kcal or 64% of daily energy intake, and relatively less sugar of only 6.5g 13% of daily limit.
In respect of the other combination with even less meat in the meal, including stir-fried celery with chicken fillet, broccoli with braised Chinese mushroom, Chinese-style soup and steamed rice. The sodium intake was close to the daily limit of 2,000mg; but total fat was only 17g or 26% of daily limit; 590 kcal or 30% of the daily energy intake; and energy intake of 9g sugar or 18% of daily limit.
The example illustrated that eating out even with care in choosing food with less meat, while the intake of total fat, saturated fat and energy would be lowered, its sodium intake would still be at a high level. One dinner alone would have reached the daily sodium limit. Cooking your own meals can of course control the quantity of salt in the food, but sadly city dwellers, many of them singles, or families seldom take meals at home relying instead on fast food outlets and cafes as their daily “canteens.” A typical menu for them may look like this:
Breakfast: instant noodles with luncheon meat and fried egg, hot milk tea
Lunch: stir-fried rice noodles with sliced beef, cold lemon tea
Dinner: stir-fried broccoli with fish fillet, Chinese-style soup, steamed rice
A daily diet based on such a menu means that the person will be consuming an excessive amount of sodium, fats and sugars exceeding the WHO’s daily limit: 5,500mg of sodium, which is 275% of daily limit; 99g of total fat which is 149% of daily limit; 23g of saturated fat which is 5% above daily limit; 2,400 kcal of energy which is 19% higher than daily limit; 49g of sugar which is 97% of daily limit but if snacks or beverages are consumed, sugar intake will rise rapidly exceeding the daily limit in no time. Consumers are reminded that some of the most prevalent diseases in Hong Kong include: high blood pressure, cardiovascular and coronary heart diseases which are all closely connected to the daily diet. It is imperative that consumers eating out habitually to adhere to the principle of less salt, less sugar and less oil to minimise the risk of contracting these diseases.
Suggestions to consumers:
-The test results of this study showed that certain Hong Kong style dishes with vegetables as the main ingredient were found to have relatively lower sodium content. Consumers may consider ordering these dishes more often to echo with balanced diet principle, i.e. eating more vegetables and less meat, while reducing sodium intake when eating out;
-When ordering food, ask for “less salt” or even “no salt” in the food;
-Have soy sauce and gravy served separately, and taste the food first before adding any condiment;
-Take note of the serving size of the dishes if the size is too big, consider ordering less in quantity;
-Besides sodium content, take heed of other nutrients - sugar, fat, etc.
Suggestions to the trade:
-Sodium content varied up to two folds within the same dish type, reflecting that restaurants could adopt more healthy cooking methods to attract customers. Trade can consider using natural or fresh food ingredients such as ginger, parsley and garlic etc. for seasoning instead of condiments;
-If food ingredients of a high salt content are needed such as salted egg, and pickled vegetables, reduce or even skip the amount of salt and other condiments to be used;
-Reduce the use and quantity of sauce, if extra soy sauce is needed serve it separately, and allowing customers to decide according to their own preference;
-Offer “light version” of reduced quantity for choice of consumers;
-Display nutrient information of the dishes on the menu or price list for reference of consumers;
-Take reference of the Centre for Food Safety “Trade Guidelines for Reducing Sodium in Foods” and “Trade Guidelines for Reducing Sugars and Fats in Foods” in the interest of consumer health and safety.
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