Å®ÉúСÊÓƵ

Think twice before placing that order for moo shu pork: Chinese food
may not be as healthy as you think. A consumer group in Washington DC has
concluded that many Chinese meals contain more fat and sodium than hamburger
and chips.

‘People need to be warned that this isn’t the health food that they
think it is,’ says nutritionist Jayne Hurley of the Center for Science in
the Public Interest, which conducted the study.

The group bought 15 popular Chinese dishes in three cities, and commissioned
an independent laboratory to analyse the food. Kung pao chicken (stir-fried
chicken and peanuts) scored worst with more fat than three McDonald’s quarter
pounders. Moo shu pork (pork, vegetables and egg) and General Tso’s chicken
(chicken coated with flour) were also laden with fat and sodium.

Fat causes concern because of its role in causing heart disease and
cancer. And too much sodium is thought to cause high blood pressure. Even
dishes such as stir-fried vegetables were high in sodium.

The study has raised the blood pressure of Chinese restaurateurs, who
complain that it is misleading. ‘You cannot compare a freshly created entree
to a processed piece of meat on a bun,’ says Perry Moy, owner of The Plum
Garden in McHenry, in the Chicago suburbs.

‘Why is that an unfair comparison?’ asks Hurley, who criticises hamburgers
as well as Chinese food for being too fatty.

Moy says by basing its results on an entire serving of the main course
and a helping of rice, the study overestimates the amount of food people
eat. In a restaurant people share main courses, Moy argues, so they eat
less fat, sodium and cholesterol.

Hurley stands by the study. She says, ‘many people do eat a carton of
takeout Chinese food’.