The survey has been carried out by Consensus Action on Salt and Health. It is concerned that consumers buying salads as a healthy option might not realise that the salad they choose might contain more salt than a Big Mac.
It researched 270 salads and pasta bowls on sale at supermarkets, fast-food restaurants and high-street café chains. The survey found that the saltiest salad was sandwich chain EAT's Spicy Crayfish Noodles, followed by Pret A Manger’s Super Duper Humous Salad with French Dressing. Two of KFC’s salads and one from McDonald’s rounded out the top five.
The British Heart Foundation has backed the survey, calling for more labelling on food.
Victoria Taylor, senior heart health dietician at the BHF, said: "If you’re trying to look after your heart health by having a salad instead of fast food, it can be frustrating to find your supposedly healthy option comes laden with salt.
"While it's encouraging that some products have been reformulated since the last survey in 2005, we clearly need to go further to give people a broader choice for lunch on-the-go, with options that are healthy in terms of salt as well as calories, fat and sugar. These need to be clearly labelled too, so people know what’s really in the food they buy."
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