CHICAGO, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- After examining menu items from 66 of the top 100 chain restaurants, U.S. researchers found that while some attention has been given to offering lower-sodium options, restaurant food is still high in sodium, particularly in main-course items.
"Overall, sodium content of newly introduced menu items declined by about 104 milligrams," said Julia Wolfson, assistant professor of health management and policy and of nutritional sciences at the University of Michigan (UM) School of Public Health.
"However, among existing and new main-course items, the average sodium content of a single menu item is still more than half of the daily sodium recommended limit of 2,300 mg," she said.
Using data from the MenuStat project, Wolfson and colleagues looked at nearly 22,000 menu items in fast-food, fast-casual and full-service chain restaurants over the period 2012 to 2016.
The database contains calorie and nutrition data gathered from websites of the 200 largest restaurants in the United States, as defined by sales volume.
The researchers compared sodium content in items available in 2012 to new items added in each of the next four years. Full-service restaurants showed the largest reduction in sodium of 163 mg on new items, followed by fast-food, 83 mg and fast-casual eateries, 19 mg.
High-sodium diets have serious adverse health effects.
The average American aged 19-50 consumes more than 3,700 mg of sodium. The excess has been linked to high blood pressure, stroke and heart disease.
Health experts have determined that a 1,200 mg drop in daily sodium intake could save as many as 92,000 lives and up to 25 million U.S. dollars in health care costs annually.
Previous research has shown that 80 percent of American's sodium consumption is from eating food prepared outside of the home.
Studies also have found that one-third of adults and children eat fast food every day and nearly half of all food purchases are outside of the home. Therefore, reducing the sodium content of restaurant food could have benefits for Americans' health.
The study has been published online in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
