The salt content of products from popular fast-food chains in Costa Rica

Abstract

Salt is a major determinant of population blood pressure levels. Salt intake in Costa Rica is above levels required for good health. With an increasing number of Costa Ricans visiting fast food restaurants, it is likely that fast-food is contributing to daily salt intake. Salt content data from seven popular fast food chains in Costa Rica were collected in January 2013. Products were classified into 10 categories. Mean salt content was compared between chains and categories. Statistical analysis was performed using Welch ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer HSD tests. Significant differences were found between companies; Subway products had lowest mean salt content (0.97 g/100 g; p < 0.05) while Popeye's and KFC had the highest (1.57 g/100 g; p < 0.05). Significant variations in mean salt content were observed between categories. Salads had a mean salt content of 0.45 g/100 g while sauces had 2.16 g/100 g (p < 0.05). Wide variation in salt content was also seen within food categories. Salt content in sandwiches ranged from 0.5 to 2.1 g/100 g. The high levels and wide variation in salt content of fast food products in Costa Rica suggest that salt reduction is likely to be technically feasible in many cases. With an increasing number of consumers purchasing fast foods, even small improvements in salt levels could produce important health gains.

Reducing the Salt Added to Takeaway Food: Within-Subjects Comparison of Salt Delivered by Five and 17 Holed Salt Shakers in Controlled Conditions

“…[ 10 ] The salt content of fast and takeaway foods in other countries has also been reported to be high. [ 13 – 15 ] Discretionary salt added by servers as they serve and package food, as well as by consumers, would further increase salt content. Reducing salt intake has been associated with reduced blood pressure and incidence of stroke in systematic reviews.…”

Progress Evaluation for Transnational Restaurant Chains to Reformulate Products and Standardize Portions to Meet Healthy Dietary Guidelines and Reduce Obesity and Non-Communicable Disease Risks, 2000–2018: A Scoping and Systematic Review to Inform Policy

“…Following the full-text review ( n = 38), we excluded four studies and selected 34 studies that met the inclusion criteria. An additional 16 additional articles were identified from the reference lists of key articles and other sources, and 50 articles were included in the final analysis [78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110,111,112,113,114,115,116,117,118,119,120,121,122,123,124,125,126,127].…”

“…Of the 38 studies that examined the sodium or salt content of chain restaurant meals, two multi-country studies documented substantial differences in the sodium content of menu items that differed by food category at different QSR chains across nine countries [91,101]. Dunford et al (2012) [91] documented that the mean sodium content of foods varied between chains and between the same products across six countries, and Khan et al (2018) [101] found that two-thirds of sodium came from meats, chicken, and buns across four countries including Australia, Egypt, India, and the U.S. Studies across Australia [94,124], Canada [113,114,115,116], Costa Rica [97], Japan [120], New Zealand [93,106,123], and the U.S. [79,87,89,99,109,121,122,126] documented wide variation in the sodium content by restaurant chain and food category that precluded making generalizations about the sodium content of menu items within a single country and across countries. Only a small proportion of children’s meals met the recommended sodium targets in Australia [124], Japan [120], and U.S. [117].…”

Salt/Sodium Intake Estimation in Children and Adolescents of Costa Rica

“…Regarding the food groups that contribute the most to sodium intake, in the present investigation, it was found that more than 60% of sodium comes from 10 food groups. The largest contributor was the group of meats with visible or fried fat (alone or in a "casado"), where fried chicken stands out for its low cost compared to other meats and for the use of salt and seasonings that give a characteristic flavor to fried chicken, which, judging by its consumption, is of great preference among children and adolescents [32] According to estimates done by the National Chamber of Poultry Farmers of Costa Rica (CANAVI) in 2015, per capita intake of chicken meat was 23.3 kg, ranking above beef and pork [33]. This could be attributed to the reduction in production costs and the efficiency that has been achieved, resulting in a decrease of consumer prices [34].…”

“…The food groups identified as of deficient consumption in the Costa Rican population and which were the ones that contributed less to its intake in the present study, have been recognized in the scientific literature as protectors (mainly legumes, non-starchy vegetables and fruits) of the main chronic diseases prevalent in Costa Rica, such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. While the food groups: fried chicken; soy or spices or tomato sauces; fried prepared pastries and sandwiches; fast foods; processed meats/sausages; salty cookies; snacks in small packages; popcorn and ripe or creamy cheeses have been identified as a risk for these diseases due to their association with their high fat and/or sodium content [32]. These processed products are offered mostly by international restaurants aimed to children, adolescents and their families [39].…”