Salt! Salt! Salt!

Recently I went to Boston Pizza for diner before attending the Manitoba Moose’s Skills Competition. It was tasty –your typical greasy-yet-so-delicious pizza accompanied with a crisp and refreshing glass of chardonnay. However, I noticed how salty the food was.

And yes you’re probably thinking: what’s with this crazy girl always harping on salt in restaurant food in her blogs. But, honestly, the weird obsession started after I read that Globe and Mail article this past summer on how Canadian’s (and American’s) consume far to much sodium.


(http://www.theglobeandmail.com/special-reports/hard-to-shake/)

So I decided to do my own investigation on how much sodium Canadians are consuming and on how much sodium is in Boston Pizza’s menu items. The results are shocking!

Persons aged 9-50 years-old are supposed to get 1,500 mg of sodium/day. However, a Statistics Canada study from 2004 reveals males consume more sodium than females and they get an average of 4,000 mg/day! (The study did not specify how much sodium females take in.)

That’s practically double the amount! (If I got the math wrong, bear with me I’m a CreComm student.)

According to Statistics Canada, too much sodium in a person’s diet leads to hypertension (also known as high blood pressure). Hypertension causes strokes, heart attacks, heart failure, arterial aneurysms, and chronic renal failure.

The problem I figure: eating out, especially if you’re eating at Boston Pizza.

After digging through Boston Pizza’s online nutritional guide (which is nice of them to have), I quickly discovered just how unhealthy its menu is. For example, a starter size Caesar salad has 370 mg of sodium (the regular size if 740 mg). A starter size of breaded chicken wings –1,510 mg, so considering just about everything contains sodium, I guess that’s your meal for the day. One slice of their famous spicy perogie pizza contains 360 mg of sodium. And if you want dessert too –that’ll cost you another 300 mg of sodium.

So let’s say you start with a Caesar salad, have three pieces of pizza and dessert. That amounts to 1,750 mg of sodium –in one meal!

The most shocking menu item in terms of the amount of sodium it has is the jambalaya fettuccini. Its ingredients include a pomodoro sauce, vegetables, chicken, shrimp, and Italian sausage and has 3,460 mg of sodium. Now that’s crazy. On average, however, the pasta’s contained roughly 2,000 mg of sodium/dish.

Now, I should clarify before things get too far, I’m not trying to fear monger, rather I want to raise awareness on the issue. I think many of us worry more about the amount of calories or sugar an item contains than the amount of salt. Why would we, it seems harmless. That’s what I thought too, until I read the Globe and Mail feature.

So I just want people to think about it. I think it’s fair to say that when eating at home salt intake isn’t a large issue because you’re conscious of how much you’re actually putting into your food (unless of course you eat a lot of pre-packaged foods or foods with preservatives). But when eating out we don’t really think about it. And many people dine out a lot. And yes, buying your lunch from the snack kiosk counts.

I’m also not trying to detour you from going to Boston Pizza. I chose the place as a guinea pig for my blog simply because I was there the other day and I noticed the saltiness. I too love going out for some unhealthy grub every once in a while. And I certainly can’t resist a few slices of BP’s perogie pizza. But I’m also very conscious of the fact that I’m eating unhealthy food.

Do you think about it? If you don’t, try being more aware. Reflect on your recent food choices. Were they prepared at home? From scratch? Could you be making some changes to your diet? Should you be worried? How can you begin making those changes?

Now take action.

My advice: buy a cook book that focuses on low sodium intake. Eat fewer pre-packaged foods and foods without preservatives. And/or bring your own lunch to work or school. But at the same time, break the rules. Indulge every once in a while. Just be aware!