So thats why those Cheese Feast pizzas taste sooooooo good.

Its all making me feel hungry - whats the take out number - bye!

McDonalds anyone?

Pretty old news this - though they are still much healthier than they used to be ;)

Excuse me, the link between salt intake and coronary heart disease is EXACTLY the point.

Why has this MOTBO (Ministry of the Bleeding Obvious) press release been regurgitated for the Reg?

Surely you don't think your readers are long haired unwashed geeks who live on burgers and takeaway pizza? Please leave this sort of drivel to the tabloids.

Last time I saw an official *medical* comment on this, it said that whilst excessive salt increases blood pressure in adults with high blood pressure already, there was no indication that it would create problems in people who were otherwise healthy. Assuming you don't eat the stuff by the spoonful, of course.

What ever happened to just eating what you like, in moderation? Kept my Gran going to 100+

"Were a six-year-old to participate in this orgy of sodium, he or she could be absorbing "over four times their daily limit (3g)", CASH adds."

For that to happen the six-year-old would have to eat as much as an adult, in which case sodium wouldn't be their main problem, would it now (especially if the child also had a couple of beers with the meal like a good adult)?

48 divided by 4 doesn't equal 12, it's simple math...

I'm just amazed that Lester didn't take advantage of "A Deluxe Boneless Box" for the usual endless fnarr-fnarr pr0n references (or possibly even a reference to Paris), not sure I'd want to share it between four though.

Ian.

The easiest and direct route for profit in these places is in soft drinks. less than 1p per litre of syrup and they sell it for £1.35, 1.85, 2.50 Same with cinemas (and salty pop corn) and pubs.

So you are there for dinner and eating salty food which makes you more thirsty.

...the French fries are laced in the stuff at McDonkey

Remember at pizza hut when the chicken pizza were vegetarian safe because it was all soya.

And why milk shakes are so thick?

Anyone shocked at a food standards test has released alarming results.

I miss being a long haired unwashed geek who lived on bergers and pizza...

Pizza Hut for lunch anyone?

I wonder when the MOTBO is going to insist on the warning "MAY CONTAIN SALT" being printed on Salt Shakers.

Why not eat what tastes good, in moderation? I've always felt that hunger has an intelligence of its own, if you just listen to what it's telling you. If you're craving something salty, it's likely that your body has a need for the salt. If something tastes overly salty to you, it's time to lay off it. My Grandfather lived to 89 following this logic, while the rest of his siblings died much younger. He was an active man, to which I'd also attribute his longevity. (he ate bacon almost every day, and it wasn't a heart or blood pressure related ailment that did him in)

</possible rationalization>

Fast food is bad for you. I'm so shocked.

Really. I am.

Go report on something useful.

Great:

Junk food here I come.

With a body like mine, nudging 60, I need all the preservative I can get...........

OK, I'll get my coat & Zimmer...

Salt plays a crucial role in cooking a lot of starch based foods and is essential for seasoning. You can miss it out and have bland tasting/poorly textured foods (your roast potatoes, for example, will not crisp up properly) and if you are doing a lot of excercise and living in a hot climate you will die from lack of salt. Or you can use it and you will, eventually die.

The choice is yours.

A pressure group produces research that backs up their point!

Bear in mind the daily recommended maximums are just that - *daily* maximums, i.e. what you can consume every day.

So occasional excursions over the maximum are unlikely to be a problem, as on average you won't have that level of intake. Unless you eat burgers etc. every day, in which case the fat will probably get you before the salt anyway.

And the recommended figures are probably on the conservative side, so the real intake limits are probably higher. And in any case will vary from person to person.

I just wish all these campaign groups would go away. They never get things right, and always push their ideas too far. And none of them seems to like the idea of personal choice.

Most of this fast fuel stuff would taste like shit if it weren't heavily salted. ...Please pass the Lot's wife. So far Denny's is the worst around my area.

To summarise what's been written above: we as readers, wish to deride those who want to take away our kidses' Zinger Burgers and Cheese Crusts, because:

a) A little of what you like, does you good. (Yes, but public health wouldn't exist as a concept, if people just did what was good for them).

b) The complainers are out for personal gain. (Too right, they should all wear papal gowns, and whip themselves with chains)

c) People are well-educated enough to judge for themselves. (Excuse me whilst I choke...)

d) You can't flavour food without salt. (Maybe, but as Nick Ryan points out, that doesn't justify splurging it all over everything).

This is to say nothing of addiction to heavily-salted, heavily starched crap - and the conditioning of tastebuds along these lines; how many kids do you know, for whom chips and nuggets are their favourite food?

Well its not exactly an open and shut case is it ?

"over 20,000 scientific studies have been published on the relationship between salt and hypertension, with conflicting and contradictory results"

So the stuff that we have preserved our food with for 1000's of years is bad for you ? Im not so sure, processed foods and trans fatty acids would be more likely IMHO.

A balanced diet with lots of fruit and veg, a bit of meat and some occasional treats (for the soul) ... its not exactly rocket science is it.

I'm surprised that junk food doesn't give you cancer. Everything else does.

I take it you mean yourself ?

Come on people 1 in 3 now take a degree course, try not to fall back on stereotypes, its lazy

on this story. It's been known and said for years kids don't matter they aren't going to die from the salt it's people over forty that are going to keel kids can live with high blood pressure for a long time without damage me I could die tomorrow if your one of those poor souls who waited till your forties to have kids don't clean their plates you won't get to see them reach their tenth birthday and it's not them that is going anywhere.

I agree with you about the salt, but clearly you're not getting enough punctuation in your diet.

Now THAT's an acronym. Either that or a really good expletive.

Really, though. I agree, if you eat decent food in moderation, with the occasional trip to the burger joint or pizza as a treat, you'll probably outlive most people. And if you don't, FFOARKU!

I like it

"Come on people 1 in 3 now take a degree course, try not to fall back on stereotypes, its lazy"

Yes, but how many of those are Media Studies and Business Admin courses where they are learning how to maximise sales of junk?

It's obvious to me that none of these salt-phobics have ever been unlucky enough to see anyone suffering the symptoms of hyponatraemia.

I nearly died of that once. It's really, really not pleasant.