Jamie Oliver hits back at claims his ready meals are 'dangerously' high in salt

Celebrity cook Jamie Oliver has fixed a robust effect to alarming findings that immoderate of his acceptable meals incorporate 3 times arsenic overmuch brackish arsenic a information McDonald's fries.

An probe by Action connected Salt, a radical of starring academics, revealed that the TV cook’s offerings — sold successful Sainsbury's — incorporate 'danergously' precocious levels of salt.

All of the six acceptable meals produced by the cook that were analysed by the run radical were recovered to incorporate much than 1.5g of brackish per 100g.

Eighty-three per cent were besides recovered to beryllium precocious successful some abdominous and saturated fat, and each were recovered to beryllium debased successful fibre, which is important for preventing bowel cancer.

The restauranter is known for his steadfast eating campaigning, including a 2005 crusade to present much nutritious nutrient into British schools and destruct high-calorie meals similar the infamous turkey twizzlers.

Now helium runs advocacy groups aiming to slash puerility obesity. 

Responding to the revelations, a spokesperson for the Jamie Oliver Group said: 'We’ve ever believed successful balance, successful our cookbooks, successful our restaurants and that remains accordant crossed our nutrient products which scope from steadfast options — frozen veg and atom pouches — to the much indulgent acceptable meals. 

'This is successful enactment with Jamie’s longstanding 70:30 ethos. Everything is sourced to Jamie’s precocious nutrient standards, determination are nary hidden artificial nasties oregon sugars and we are ever transparent with wide front-of-pack labelling astir which of our scope is much indulgent.' 

The Action connected Salt researchers recovered that 1 successful 5 acceptable meals for merchantability successful Britain exceeded the recommended regular limits for salt, abdominous and unsaturated fat.

The probe looked astatine the nutritional contented of much than 1,500 meals sold by much than 30 brands and supermarkets successful the UK.

Results showed that the saltiest enactment contains a whopping 6.1g per serving—nearly doubly arsenic salty arsenic seawater, 2 margarita pizzas (5.2g) oregon astir 10 servings of chips astatine McDonald's.

The NHS recommends adults lone devour 6g of brackish for the full day, for children the bounds is adjacent lower.

Commenting earlier today, experts labelled the probe's findings 'concerning' and 'unacceptable', arguing manufacturers indispensable trim the brackish contented of their meals and support nationalist health.

Having excess brackish successful your strategy leads to h2o retention successful the humor raising your humor pressure.

This can, subsequently, rise the hazard of a perchance fatal bosom onslaught oregon stroke.

Heart illness and strokes are 1 of Britain's biggest killers, sidesplitting astir 160,000 a year, with the American decease toll astir 5 times higher.

Of the 1,511 acceptable meals analysed, Action of Salt recovered 56 per cent were precocious successful salt, 42 per cent precocious successful saturated abdominous and 71 per cent debased successful fibre.

One successful 5 were recovered to beryllium some precocious successful abdominous and brackish simultaneously.

Action connected Salt's caput of interaction and probe Sonia Pombo said voluntary targets for producers to trim brackish contented introduced successful 2006 were intelligibly not working.

'With implicit fractional of acceptable meals recovered to beryllium unacceptably precocious successful salt, consumers’ wellness are being enactment astatine superior risk, often without realising it,' she said.

'It should not beryllium this hard to devour healthily.

'We present request the authorities to halt pandering to manufacture interests and present mandatory brackish simplification targets with existent consequences for non-compliance.'

Dr Pauline Swift, seat of the foundation Blood Pressure UK, besides called for action.

'Excess brackish successful our nutrient is straight linked to raised humor pressure–the biggest hazard origin for strokes, bosom illness and kidney disease–all of which are wholly avoidable,' she said.

'The authorities indispensable enactment present to enforce stronger brackish simplification targets and support nationalist wellness earlier adjacent much lives are needlessly lost.'

Professor Bryan Williams OBE, main aesculapian and technological serviceman astatine the British Heart Foundation, added: 'This concerning information shows it is not ever straightforward for radical to find acceptable meals which are debased successful salt.

'Food companies indispensable bash much to trim brackish successful their products, truthful that the steadfast options are much easy available.'

The NHS warns that excessively overmuch abdominous successful your diet, particularly saturated fats, tin rise your cholesterol, which successful crook increases the hazard of bosom disease.

On the different hand, getting capable fibre, besides called roughage, helps with digestion, preventing constipation and is besides linked with a little hazard of bosom disease, stroke, benignant 2 diabetes and bowel cancer.

Ready meals are present considered a staple of the modern British fare with surveys suggesting 3 retired of 4 radical consuming astatine slightest 1 per week.