bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

SCMP Reporter

Dietitians analysed 50 commonly ordered meals and found abnormally high levels of oil

It is a list sure to strike fear into the hearts of food lovers everywhere. Dietitians have issued  a food index - a list ranking  the nutritional value of the city's  most commonly ordered dishes.

RTHK presented the food index on its  Ad-wisers Food Olympia programme yesterday. The station appointed  researchers from the Hong Kong Dietitians' Association and  the Qualigenics Diabetes Centre  to analyse the nutritional value of 50 dishes. The list includes Chinese, western and Japanese dishes.

Topping the list of unhealthiest foods is vegetarian stir-fried noodle (yee mein). Do not  let the 'vegetarian' moniker fool you  - it  has up to 23 teaspoons, or roughly half a glass, of oil.

This is almost eight times the suggested serving per meal. Each meal should not have  more than four to five teaspoons of oil.

Runner-up unhealthy dishes included stir-fried ho fun with beef, and baked pork chop with rice and tomato sauce -  containing 17 to 18 teaspoons  of oil each.

The healthiest dishes are: assorted seafood udon in soup - which will cost you only 58 minutes on the treadmill and contains only one teaspoon of oil - followed by fresh sliced beef  in soup and assorted sushi.

Japanese food generally uses less oil than Chinese cuisine.

'The best thing is to eat three to five portions of fish a day as they have plenty of omega-3 fatty acids,' said Lorena Cheung Tsui-fun, senior dietitian at Qualigenics.

Omega-3 oils are  'good' oils  found in fish, and help to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

Excess intake of oil can raise cholesterol, which ultimately leads to a hardening and constriction of the arteries. This increases the likelihood of high blood pressure and heart attacks.

Speaking from the RTHK studio yesterday, Sylvia  Lam, a nutritionist at Qualigenics,  said: 'There are a lot of hidden factors. Soup base and packet noodle additives often contain a lot of salt - it's best to replace them with natural ingredients such as onions and garlic.'

The dietitians said that common sources of unhealthy foods and eating habits were: oversized portions, using fatty cuts of meat, spare ribs or tripe, unhealthy cooking methods such as frying and deep-frying and adding too much sauce.

A small woman who needs less than the recommended female  intake of 1,500 calories per day  could take  her whole day's requirements in a single meal, they said.

Men with  moderate  physical requirements need  2,000 calories a day, which is  about 500 to 700 calories per meal.

But skinny people should not be deceived into thinking they can eat what they like.

'People who are thinner do not necessarily have lower cholesterol levels,' said Ms Cheung.

Another important factor  was to eat at regular intervals, she added.

The food index is bound to kill  many a diner's joy in fried-food crazy Hong Kong. But  it also could potentially save some people from the dangers of high blood pressure, though  gyms could get even more crowded.



Food index dishes up dose of reality