Revealed: “Healthy” grocery chains pack their meals with as much salt as 30 bags of Walkers chips

Popular fast food chains include as much salt in some meals as 30 bags of Walkers crisps – but not the chains you might think.

Researchers for the Daily Mail found dishes in “healthy” shopping centers containing enormous amounts of salt, including a dish from Japanese grocery chain Wagamama with almost double the NHS’s recommended daily salt limit of six grams.

Wagamama, which has 164 locations across the UK, boasts its “obsession with fresh food”, but the chain’s chicken gyoza ramen dish contains a whopping 10.12 grams of salt – the equivalent of 30 packets of Walkers Ready Salted at 0, 34 grams each bag. Meanwhile, the Vegan Teriyaki Chicken Ramen selection contains 7.96 grams of salt, which is equivalent to 23 bags.

Rival Wasabi, which runs 47 UK restaurants, boasts a “healthy lunch alternative to the humble sandwich”.

But a large vegan Chi’king Katsu Curry Yakisoba at the chain has a whopping 9.4 grams of salt.

The World Health Organization warns that too much salt is as harmful as smoking and can cause high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Japanese street food chain Yo Sushi, which has 70 outlets in the UK, also adds 6.2 grams of salt to its vegetable gyoza and shiitake mushrooms. And diners at Itsu’s 74 locations use nearly six grams of salt in some dishes.

And this is despite the fact that the chain prides itself on serving dishes labeled “Health and Happiness.”

Clare Thornton-Wood of the British Dietetic Association said: ‘Meals from these chains will often be considered ‘healthy’ if they use vegetables and plant-based protein sources or lean meat, but the salt content makes them far less healthy than their counterparts.’

Sonia Pombo, campaign manager and nutritionist at Action on Salt, said: “It’s shocking that these meals contain too much salt, meaning an adult could be getting their maximum recommended daily salt intake in just one meal without even knowing it. Despite the overwhelming health effects, many companies seem to have forgotten that too much salt is deadly.”

“Now is the time for the food industry to step in and improve the nutritional quality of the food they sell and if they can’t do it voluntarily, the government needs to step in and legislate for the benefit of our health.”

A Wasabi spokesperson said it offers a variety of low-salt dishes, and Julian Metcalfe, founder of Itsu, added: “Good food is about balance; Asian food is some of the healthiest in the world despite its high salt content, which comes mainly from miso and seaweed, both of which are considered healthy ingredients.

“We offer low-sodium soy sauce to all our customers.” Yo Sushi said it has improved sodium levels in its products. Wagamama did not comment.