[theme music playing] [Rosa] Dinner is on us. I'd like to order
something for pickup, please. But just how much sodium are
these big chains delivering? As a dietician,
I can be surprised with the amount of sodium
that is found in some of these meals. [Rosa]
We've got some shockers… -That is mind-boggling.
-You look very surprised. … that'll shake up
your choices. Honestly, that's astonishing. [Rosa] Don't dine out until
you watch your Marketplace. [upbeat music] 'Kay, Milestones. I'd like to order
something for pickup, please. Got the Caesar salad. I'd like to order the spinach
and artichoke dip, please. -Chicken fajitas.
-[automated message] Thank you for calling Joey Restaurant. Vegan Hunan kung pao.
Mediterranean bowl looks good. I'm here to pick up
the spinach and artichoke dip.
We're putting takeout
to the test at popular sit-down
chain restaurants. [woman on phone] Hi, Jack's,
how can I help you? [Rosa] Jack Astor's. Boston Pizza. Earls. Kelseys Original Roadhouse. Joey Restaurants. And Milestones. We're mostly ordering
healthy-sounding options, to try and stick to
our New Year's resolutions. [quirky music] Plant-based menu. Mediterranean bowl,
order placed. But we wanna know, is there more sodium in these
foods than you might think? To find out, we're heading to the
University Health Network's Cardiac Rehab Program
in Toronto… … to meet two heart heroes, registered dietician,
Samantha Chabior, and Dr. Paul Oh. [Dr. Oh] Perfect
blood pressure, very nice. [Rosa]
He's the medical director of UHN's Cardiovascular
Prevention and Rehab Program. -How are you?
-Nice to meet you, Samantha. Good. How are you? I'm doing very well, thank you. Good to see you. They know the impact
too much sodium can have on our health. There can be
a large amount of sodium in some of those takeout meals. And you're a dietician,
you know all about this stuff.
But how hard is it
for someone even like you when it comes
to watching sodium? Honestly,
it is very challenging. I can be surprised
with the amount of sodium that is found
in some of these meals. When you say sodium,
I think salt. What's the difference? So, sodium will be found
in different, uh, foods, not just salt. People will often say, "Oh,
you know, don't add any salt to my meal," thinking that's
gonna reduce the sodium, but majority of it has
already been added in in the seasonings,
the marinades, foods that have been prepared
ahead of time, uh, before you
even get to the restaurants. And that makes it hard to avoid if it's added
in before the fact? -Absolutely.
-[Rosa] Dr. Oh and Samantha say we all need to limit
our sodium intake. Excess sodium has been linked
to a number of health problems.
Cardiovascular would
be our realm particularly, so too much salt equals
elevations in blood pressure. High blood pressure
is associated, of course, with risk of stroke,
risk of heart attack. So, sounds simple,
little, innocent– -Uh-huh.
-white little powder. But can have dire
health consequences if we take too much. [Rosa] So, how much
is too much? Health Canada says we should
aim for about 1,500 mg of sodium a day. The daily max? 2,300 mg. So, how do restaurant
meals measure up? All of the restaurants
we ordered from have their nutrition info
on their websites. So, we're checking
it out to see how much sodium they say these items have. [woman on phone]
Hi, can I help you? Hi, there.
I'd like to order the, uh, spinach and artichoke
dip, please. First up, an appetizer, the spinach and artichoke dip
from Boston Pizza. It's our Sodium Shock #1. I think a lot of people
would see that there are some vegetables listed
in the name and think, "Hey, this is
a lower sodium option," but when we look at it,
there's actually quite a bit of sodium
coming from the cheese and other ingredients here.
[Rosa] And it's not
just the dip. There's going to be sodium in
the actual pizza bread itself. [Rosa] This appetizer
has 2,520 mg of sodium. Boston Pizza says it serves
three people. So, that's 840 mg of sodium
per person. That's about a third of all
the sodium you should be having for the entire day,
the actual limit. [Rosa] What does that much
sodium translate to in salt? Let's see what that looks
like in terms of salt packs. Yeah. Seeing it in terms of
salt is kind of an easier way to understand sodium and all
the different milligrams -we're talking about.
-[Rosa] Yeah.
These salt packets are about
half a gram each. ♪ So, this is four. -Give or take.
-Yeah. [Rosa] The amount of sodium in one serving of this
appetizer is the equivalent of about four packets of salt. -That is shocking.
-Mm-hmm. It's a lot. Do you think people realize
that just the appetizers– I don't think so. I think
especially, you know, breads, those are often
a surprise for people. A big contributor of sodium, but also the–
the small little dip can definitely pack a punch. [Rosa] We reached out
to Boston Pizza for comment, but didn't hear back. Samantha's lower sodium
suggestion at Boston Pizza? Get a slice
of garlic toast instead. It's still not necessarily
a low sodium choice, it has 330 mg of sodium,
but because you're just having the one slice, you're able to,
uh, reduce that sodium intake.
[Rosa] Time
for a Sodium Shock #2. We picked up a roasted garlic
Caesar salad entrée from Milestones. You wanna wager a guess,
how much sodium are we talking -about in this dish?
-Hmm. It's the company
that the lettuce is keeping that's the problem here. [Rosa] A problem if you're
watching your sodium. Milestones roasted garlic
Caesar salad has 1,590 mg of sodium. That's about two-thirds
of the daily recommended max. Doesn't leave room for
other meals, that's for sure. [Rosa] Let's see what
that much sodium translates to in packets of salt. ♪ The sodium
in the salad is equal to about eight packets
of salt. So, that's really surprising.
Salad by itself doesn't
necessarily mean healthy. [Rosa] So, what can you do
to slash the sodium? Maybe see if you could leave
the croutons and the bacon off on the side,
and the dressing, and then just
sprinkle a small amount. [Rosa] Milestones tells us
their Caesar salad is as traditional as it comes,
but they're always looking to reduce sodium
where possible. And they're working
on a slight reformulation of this dressing, along
with a couple of other sauces. Our next stop,
Joey Restaurants. Their Mediterranean bowl
is our Sodium Shock #3. I think that the word
"Mediterranean" may have a bit of a health halo around it. Of course, the Mediterranean
diet itself does have great heart health benefits. And we see there are, you know, some great fibre-rich options in there like the chickpeas,
and there's some chicken. But unfortunately,
there are some sneaky sources of sodium in there. Whenever you see the word
"marinade," "smoked," "pickled," or "seasoning,"
you want to think sodium.
[Rosa] The Mediterranean bowl
from Joey has 2,530 mg of sodium. That's more than
the daily recommended max in just one dish. That's one dish,
your entire kinda upper limit. So, th– this is too much.
Um, you know, I– I guess it should be something
that should be shared. If– if one was gonna dive
into something that, uh– that has this much colour,
texture, flavour, and sodium. [Rosa] Let's see what that much
sodium translates to in salt. Wow, the– to the packets. Yes, to the packets we go. ♪ Feel like I'm gonna
be here all day. -Wow, that's so much.
-Wow. The sodium in
the Mediterranean bowl is equal to about 12
and a half packets of salt. Most people would not imagine
putting that much salt into just one serving. ♪ [Rosa] We're heading to
the Hamilton Farmers' Market to ask shoppers what they
think of this sodium surprise. I like salt. No salt, no fat,
no flavour.
That's my motto. When you think of Mediterranean
diet, do you think healthy? -What do you think?
-I think healthy, yeah. Yeah, I think
it's very healthy. If I saw it a menu, uh, I would not assume
that it was high in sodium. So, this particular dish has
more than 2,500 mg of sodium. -Oh, wow.
-So, above the daily max. That does really surprise me. It's, uh, definitely
surprising. It's a lot. [Rosa] Samantha says
this substitution at Joey shrinks the sodium. [Samantha]
The crispy tofu bowl. -Mm-hmm.
-That's 1,330 mg of sodium. Definitely a lot lower
than this particular dish. [Rosa] We reached out to Joey
Restaurants for a comment, but we didn't get a response. [upbeat music] ♪ Our sodium shockers
take us to New York City… where consumers get a warning. Red Lobster dishes here.
Let's take a look.
Chain restaurants are required
to put a warning icon on menu items that have
2,300 mg of sodium or more. Warning. Warning above it. Another one,
another one, another one. And a message that explains
the potential health risks of high sodium diets. "Can increase blood pressure and the risk of heart disease
and stroke." The policy applies
to chain restaurants with 15 or more
locations. That's got
a sodium warning sign.
Check out this menu. Olive Garden. Oh, yeah.
You can see the warnings. [upbeat music] ♪ We're heading to the New York
City Health Department… [train rumbling] … to find out more about
why they started the policy. Amaka Anekwe is the Director of Strategic Nutrition
Initiatives here. When you walk into
a chain restaurant, you may not be able
to tell exactly how much sodium is in the product. For example, you may have two
very similar sounding items, let's say, uh,
two turkey sandwiches. And they may have dramatically
different amounts of sodium. [Rosa] Amaka says
from the start, consumers were in support
of these labels. But restaurants,
not so much at first. There was a legal challenge
brought by, uh, the National
Restaurant Association.
Ultimately, the policy
prevailed and we were happy to see the policy
go into place. Restaurants might say
that the amount of sodium is on their website, that they
don't need it on the menus. It's really hard to imagine
someone taking that extra step and time to look
for that nutrition information. What's really great
for consumers is if, when they're standing
at the menu board, they can see
that information immediately and make their
decision right on the spot. [Rosa] Early research suggests
consumer behaviour may be changing as a result
of the warning icon. We have preliminary evidence
that shows that consumer purchases at sit-down
restaurants have less sodium. That's good news for New York. That's great news
for our consumers. Does Canada need something
like this, Samantha? I think that would
very helpful.
It's very clear to indicate, "Hey, this is
a high sodium food. Beware." And then somebody can choose
another option on the menu that isn't, uh,
higher in sodium and doesn't contain
that label. [Rosa] Coming up,
more sodium shockers. Just one tablespoon
of soy sauce can have almost 1,000 mg
of sodium. [Rosa] And our biggest
reveal yet. [Dr. Oh]
14, 16… Rosa: This is your
Marketplace. [upbeat music] [Rosa] We're putting popular
sit-down chain restaurants to the test, and revealing
some sodium shockers. Next up, how about something
from a plant-based menu? Earls vegan Hunan kung pao
is our Sodium Shock #4. People associate vegan foods
with having nutrition benefits.
And the vegan diet
is a great diet choice, but oftentimes
we do need to be careful because there can still
be a lot of sodium in the dish. [Rosa] Earls initially tells us
their vegan Hunan kung pao has 3,110 mg of sodium. That's more than the daily
recommended maximum. That is, um, mind-boggling. [Rosa] Let's see what that much
sodium looks like in packets of salt. -We're gonna be here a while.
-[Dr.
Oh] Wow. ♪ [Rosa] Five, not even close. ♪ My gosh. This plant-based dish
has the equivalent sodium of about 15
and a half packets of salt. There's a ginger soy sauce
that they're using, so that's gonna be one
of the key contributors of sodium here. And just one tablespoon
of soy sauce, it can have almost
1,000 mg of sodium, so it can really add up. [Rosa] Earls tells us, after
hearing from Marketplace, they made updates to the dish, and lowered the sodium
to 2,850 mg. That's still over the daily
recommended max. They also tell us they provide
a variety of menu options, from healthy
to more indulgent. And like all of the other
restaurants we visited, they have complete nutritional
info on their website. Here's Samantha's lower sodium
suggestion at Earls. [Samantha] There's the vegan
spring greens and grains salad.
And that one comes in at just
600 mg of sodium for the dish, so that's a big savings
in terms of the sodium content. [Rosa] Time for the biggest
sodium shocker on our takeout spree. Kelseys Original Roadhouse,
here we go. Chicken fajitas. Kelseys chicken fajitas
are Sodium Shock #5. I think a lot of times people
would be choosing this type of dish because they see
lots of chicken, they see vegetables,
and that's often something we're encouraging people
to eat more of. But unfortunately,
there is quite a bit of sources of sodium
in this particular dish. [Rosa] How much sodium?
Wait for it. 4,340 mg. That's nearly double
the daily recommended max. All together
with 4,000 mg-plus, that's too much
for anybody. So, immediately
what jumps out to me is the multiple
tortillas. Each one of those are gonna
be a sneaky source of sodium. Just one tortilla can have
200 to 300 mg sodium in it. I find that surprising because
they don't taste salty. Exactly, yeah. So, that is
that hidden source of sodium that we talk about. It doesn't jump out at you,
but it does add a lot of sodium into the diet.
[Rosa] What does
that much sodium equal in salt packets? This is gonna be a team effort
for this one. Salt packet party here. [tense marching band music] [Rosa] This dish has
the equivalent sodium of just over
22 packets of salt. -Yeah. That's a lot.
-Look at it. We would never use this much
salt on purpose, right? [Rosa] Back at the Hamilton
Farmers' Market, what do shoppers think? That's a lot of sodium
for one day. Honestly, that's astonishing. That's crazy. Then again,
if I owned a restaurant, I'd say they ain't gonna
eat it unless I salt it down like this,
'cause it won't taste as good. [Rosa] We reached out to
Kelseys, but didn't hear back. Samantha's lower sodium
substitution at Kelseys has about a quarter
of the sodium. [Samantha] The Kelseys
grilled chicken breast burger with a side
of steamed veggies.
And so, if you're looking
for a chicken alternative, you know, you might be
surprised that that's actually gonna be a lower sodium
choice, a burger. [Rosa] Restaurant foods are one
of the big sources of sodium in our diet,
along with pre-packaged or highly processed foods. Sodium is on
Health Canada's radar. They're gonna require these
high sodium warning labels on the front
of pre-packaged foods. You'll be seeing them
on grocery store shelves. But not on restaurant menus. We ask why, but they decline
our request for an interview, saying nutritional
information is only required on pre-packaged foods. But say they are watching
to see what happens with the sodium warning labels
in New York. Is Health Canada
falling short in this? I would love to see, um,
more information available in the restaurants. And if people are used
to seeing it in the grocery stores,
then I think they'll start to expect it
from the restaurants as well.
What would you like
to see as a heart doctor? Being able to go out is–
is a joy in life. To be social, to be
with friends, to dine out, I– I think is– is something
that we've missed so much and we really want to enjoy
going forward. But to– for us to navigate
this safely for– for individuals,
then having more information available to us would be great. ♪ [Rosa] A birthday surprise
is next on the menu. But who invited sodium
to the celebration? Do you have a story
you think Marketplace should investigate next? Tell us all about it on email,
Twitter, and Facebook. Rosa: This is your
Marketplace. There we go, check out. We're testing sodium levels
in your takeout. There are sodium surprises
in every menu item we buy. Here's the birthday cake.
Get one of these. And now, we hope you saved
room for dessert. Jack Astor's has
our Sodium Shock #6. Birthday cake? So, cake.
Why are we talking about sodium when we're looking
at something so sweet? Yeah, I think this
is another one of those sneaky sources of sodium.
[Rosa] This dessert
has 956 mg of sodium. Jack Astor's says it serves
two people, meaning each serving
has 478 mg of sodium, about 20% of the daily
recommended limit. This one's a real surprise.
You know, it– it looks almost like the size
of a large muffin. This is bursting my bubble. First the bread that I love,
now the desserts, which are my favourite part
of a meal. People don't realize that
there's sodium in things like baking soda
and baking powder. But also salt is used
as a flavour enhancer and preservative. These are some of the reasons
why it could be high in sodium. Uh, what if it is
your birthday, though? I don't think there's anything
wrong with indulging every now and then,
so if it's your birthday, I mean, enjoy it.
[Rosa] Or, Samantha
says this sweet treat is a lower sodium option
at Jack Astor's. This restaurant
has a option called The World's Most
Ridiculously Small Brownie. It's just
a tiny little serving, but that comes in
at just 67 mg of sodium, so only 3%
of your day's worth of sodium. It's not that we need
to be afraid of the sodium and– and eating out,
but knowing where to look. And be aware
of those hidden sources. Yes, the hidden sources. That's where
they get you for sure. [Rosa] But what if you wanna
lower the sodium when you're eating at home, and still have
flavourful food? We're meeting this culinary
couple to get some tasty tips. -Hey, Michael.
-Hi, Rosa.
-Thank you for having us over.
-Nice to see you. -Come on in the kitchen.
-Thank you. The challenge is
we want to eat healthier, but we also want
food to taste good. [Rosa] Chef Anna Olson
is a TV host on the Food Network Canada. Welcome to the Great Chocolate
Showdown finale. [Rosa] And a cookbook author. Michael Olson
is a chef and educator at the Niagara College
School of Culinary Arts. And how is the smoked flavour? -So good. Smells so good, too.
-Great. I'm gonna get these onions
cooking and we're gonna fill the kitchen with aromas. It's a combination of the aroma
and the taste together. Over the last year,
I had family members that have had to completely change their
diet because of kidney disease. And so, it has been
a first-hand lesson. I– I– I lean towards lemon,
most of all, when I'm cooking, when I'm
pulling the salt out of it.
[Rosa] That's Sodium Swap #1:
Add Citrus. I'm gonna add zest to the pan,
just 'cau– because it does– [Rosa] You see,
that's something I never would've thought of. Sodium Swap #2: Add Texture. I'm a big fan of crunch. So, something like toasted
sesame, toasted peanuts, breadcrumbs, toasted almonds. Something like that that adds
that little bit of excitement, it elevates the food
similarly to salt. [Rosa] Sodium Swap #3:
Add Spices or Herbs. I'm adding a– a garam masala.
So, a– a combination
of spices or using fresh herbs is also a great way
to build in the flavour so you don't miss the salt. [Rosa] And finally,
Sodium Swap #4: Add Some Heat. I love the flavour
of fresh chilis. I think I've probably got
a higher heat tolerance -than Anna.
-Mm-hmm. -But it wakes your food up.
-It smells great already. Flavour boosters without
the sodium. Bon Appetit..
