Instant noodles too salty, says consumer watchdog

The Consumer Council tested 19 samples of prepackaged instant noodles sold in Hong Kong and found that the sodium content of one whole serving - noodles with soup and sauce - of all samples exceeded the recommended adult intake limit per meal.

Its test also found that the saturated fat content of one whole serving in nine samples exceeded the adult intake limit per meal.

The watchdog noted that the World Health Organization recommends that adults should consume less than 2,000mg of sodium per day, thus the recommended limit of sodium intake per meal is about 667mg for an adult who consumes three meals a day.

It said test results show that the sodium intake for all tested samples from consuming a whole serving, including noodles, soup, and sauce, was above 1,509mg, 1.2 times higher than the recommended adult intake limit per meal.

Of which, one sample - Kung Tak Lam’s Vegetarian Noodle (Mushroom) - recorded the highest value at 2,477mg, almost 23.9 percent over the WHO’s recommended sodium
intake limit per day for adults.

The Council suggested members of the public not to use all accompanying seasonings and try not to consume the soup, in order to reduce the intake of fat and sodium.

Meanwhile, the watchdog’s test also found that the average total fat content of fried dried noodles is 13 times higher than nonfried dried noodles, while nearly 90 percent of the samples were found to contain probable carcinogenic contaminants.