Abstract

Excessive intake of sodium (salt) may have higher risk of developing hypertension.  Untreated high blood pressure can lead to heart attack, stroke and kidney failure, etc.  The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) and the Consumer Council (CC) thus have conducted a joint study to examine the nutrient content (including sodium and energy) of Asian-style noodles-in-soup dishes commonly available in Hong Kong, in order to assist the public to make informed choices when eating out; to encourage the trade to take actions to reduce sodium content of Asian-style noodles-in-soup dishes; as well as to facilitate the initiative on calorie indication on menus.

The Study

  1. The study covered 10 types (100 samples) of non-prepackaged Asian-style noodles-in-soup dishes collected from Chinese and Asian cuisine restaurants, as well as fast-food chains during April to June 2017.  These samples were tested for sodium content and energy level by the Food Research Laboratory. In addition, 10 samples of prepackaged cup and bowl noodles were obtained from supermarkets and convenient stores, and their sodium contents and energy levels as declared on nutrition labelling were examined.

Sodium content

  1. The mean, minimum and maximum sodium contents per 100 g of the 10 types of Asian-style noodles-in-soup dish samples are summarised in the table below.  Among the 10 types of Asian-style noodles-in-soup dishes, mean sodium content of “Noodles in Tom Yum Soup” ranked the highest whereas that of “Noodles with assorted seafood in spicy soup” ranked the lowest.  One sample of “Noodles in Tom Yum Soup” and one sample of “Spicy rice noodles with pork belly and cuttlefish ball” were considered high in sodium content (> 600 mg/100 g).
Types of Noodles-in-soup dish No. of sample Sodium content (mg/100 g)
Mean Minimum Maximum

Noodles in Tom Yum Soup (冬蔭功金邊粉)

10 440 260 610

Spicy rice noodles with pork belly and cuttlefish ball
(麻辣米線 – 腩肉 、墨魚丸)

10 420 260 630

BBQ pork ramen in pork bone soup
(叉燒拉麵 – 豬骨湯底)

10 380 270 480
Wheat noodles (thin) in soup with wonton (雲吞幼麵) 10 380 260 510
Dan Dan noodles with spicy and minced pork (擔擔麵) 10 350 230 490

Pho with thin sliced beef
(越式生牛肉河)

10 340 260 480

Noodles in soup with fried pork chop
(炸排骨湯麵)

10 340 210 450

Stewed beef noodles (紅燒牛肉麵)

10 310 250 400
Seafood laksa (海鮮喇沙) 10 290 220 370
Noodles with assorted seafood in spicy soup (辣海鮮湯麵) 10 290 210 380
Overall 100 350 210 630

Energy level

  1. The mean, minimum and maximum energy levels per 100 g of the 10 types of Asian-style noodles-in-soup dish samples are summarised in the table below. Among the 10 types of Asian-style noodles-in-soup dishes, mean energy level of “Dan Dan noodles with spicy and minced pork” ranked the highest whereas that of “Pho with thin sliced beef” ranked the lowest.
Types of Noodles-in-soup dish No. of sample Energy level (kcal /100 g)
Mean Minimum Maximum
Dan Dan noodles with spicy and minced pork (擔擔麵) 10 160 100 200

BBQ pork ramen in pork bone soup
(叉燒拉麵 豬骨湯底)

10 110 76 160

Seafood laksa (海鮮喇沙)

10 100 78 130

Noodles in soup with fried pork chop (炸排骨湯麵)

10 98 86 110

Stewed beef noodles (紅燒牛肉麵)

10 93 80 110

Spicy rice noodles with pork belly and cuttlefish ball

(麻辣米線 – 腩肉 、墨魚丸)
10 87 71 110

Noodles in Tom Yum Soup (冬蔭功金邊粉)

10 81 55 100
Noodles with assorted seafood in spicy soup (辣海鮮湯麵) 10 71 58 81
Wheat noodles (thin) in soup with wonton (雲吞幼麵) 10 69 60 82

Pho with thin sliced beef (越式生牛肉河)

10 64 50 79
Overall 100 93 50 200
  1. Nutrition labelling of 10 prepackaged cup and bowl noodle samples were examined. The mean sodium content per portion was 1900 mg, which nearly reaches the daily limit of sodium intake of 2,000 mg as recommended by WHO; while the mean energy level per portion was 380 kcal.

Comparison against WHO's recommended daily intake upper limit for sodium

  1. The mean sodium contributions of the 10 types of non-prepackaged Asian-style noodles-in-soup dishes to WHO’s recommended limit of daily intake (2,000 mg sodium per day) are summarised in the table below. Among all 100 noodles-in-soup dish samples, one portion of noodles-in-soup dish contained 2,700 mg of sodium on average, which has already exceeded the daily limit of sodium intake. Over three quarters of the samples contained sodium contents over WHO’s recommended limit of daily intake in one portion, while all samples contained sodium contents over one-third of that limit in one portion.
Types of Asian-style Noodles-in-soup dish Average sodium content per portion (mg) [range] Mean sodium contribution per portion to WHO’s recommended limit of daily intake [range]
Whole portion Food portion only

Spicy rice noodles with pork belly and cuttlefish ball

(麻辣米線 – 腩肉、墨魚丸)
4100 [2500-6000] 210% (130-300%) 120% (84-180%)

Noodles in Tom Yum Soup
(冬蔭功金邊粉)

3700 [1600-5400] 190% (79-270%) 97% (36-140%)

Pho with thin sliced beef

(越式生牛肉河)
3100 [2000-5200] 160% (100-260%) 74% (48-150%)
Noodles with assorted seafood in spicy soup (辣海鮮湯麵) 2700 [1700-3800] 140% (85-190%) 73% (44-110%)
BBQ pork ramen in pork bone soup
(叉燒拉麵豬骨湯底)
2600 [2000-3900] 130% (100-190%) 68% (43-100%)
Noodles in soup with fried pork chop (炸排骨湯麵) 2600 [1600-3900] 130% (78-190%) 74% (52-110%)

Stewed beef noodles (紅燒牛肉麵)

2300 [1800-3200] 120% (90-160%) 66% (43-94%)

Seafood laksa (海鮮喇沙)

2100 [1700-2900] 110% (83-150%) 61% (48-81%)

Dan Dan noodles with spicy and minced pork (擔擔麵)

2100 [1500-2700] 100% (75-140%) 59% (43-74%)

Wheat noodles (thin) in soup with wonton (雲吞幼麵)

1800 [1200-2700] 91% (59-140%) 56% (31-77%)
Overall 2700 [1200-6000] 140% (59-300%) 75% (31-180%)

  1. When noodles-in-soup dishes were consumed with no soup, sodium intake was reduced by half when comparing with consuming all soup, but one serve of food portion has already contributed a mean of 75% of WHO's recommended limit of daily sodium intake. Nearly one-fifth of the samples contained sodium contents over WHO's recommended limit of daily intake in one food portion, while only one sample contained sodium contents within one-third of that limit in one food portion.

Advice to Consumers

Advice to the Trade

More Information

  1. The related article is published in the CHOICE MAGAZINE (Issue 496) released on 14 February 2018 (Chinese only).

 

February 2018
Risk Assessment Section
Centre for Food Safety
Food and Environmental Hygiene Department