There’s HOW much salt in that? *
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You can generally count on the Center for Science in the Public Interest to come up with eye-popping headlines for its campaigns. It was CSPI, after all, that christened especially fatty and sugary ice creams ‘coronaries in cones,’ theater popcorn ‘the Godzilla of snack foods’ and restaurant fettuccine Alfredo as ‘heart attack on a plate.’
CSPI’s new report, on the salt content of chain restaurant meals, dubs some of the dishes it analyzed ‘Heart Attack Entrees with Side Orders of Stroke.’
The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults get no more than one teaspoon, or 2,300 milligrams, of salt daily, with those middle-aged or older, African Americans and those with high blood pressure counseled to get no more than 1,500 milligrams.
CSPI’s analysis examined 17 chain restaurants ‘and found that 85 out of 102 meals had more than a day’s worth of sodium, and some had more than four days’ worth, including these:
• Red Lobster Admirals’ Feast with Caesar Salad, Creamy Lobster Topped Mashed Potato, Cheddar Bay Biscuit, and a Lemonade: 7,106 mg
• Chili’s Buffalo Chicken Fajitas (with tortillas and condiments) and a Dr Pepper: 6,916 mg
• Chili’s Honey-Chipotle Ribs with Mashed Potatoes with Gravy, Seasonal Vegetables, and a Dr Pepper: 6,440 mg
• Olive Garden Tour of Italy (lasagna) with a Breadstick, Garden Fresh Salad with House Dressing, and a Coca-Cola: 6,176 mg
• Olive Garden Chicken Parmigiana with a Breadstick, Garden Fresh Salad with House Dressing, and Raspberry Lemonade: 5,735 mg.’
You can read CSPI’s report right here.
And here, with its own media-savvy turn of phrase -- ‘Diet Patrol With Side Orders of Tax and Scare’ -- is a shot back across the bows from restaurant industry trade group the Center for Consumer Freedom, whose self-proclaimed mission is ‘promoting personal responsibility and protecting consumer choice.’
-- Rosie Mestel
*PS: This just in: Mort Satin, a food scientist on staff at the trade group the Salt Institute, ‘calls this rhetoric, ‘a preposterous claim about a nutrient that is our most important electrolyte. The countries that have recorded the best overall cardiac performance are those that consume the greatest amount of salt.’ ”