Heart experts have warned that many commercially-available salads have high levels of added salt.
A new survey of 650 restaurant, cafe and supermarket salads was carried out by Consensus Action on Salt & Health, "a group of specialists concerned with salt and its effects on health".
This showed that 77% of the salads contained more salt than a packet of crisps. Some contained almost six grams of salt, which is the entire daily recommended allowance. A McDonald’s Crispy Chicken & Bacon Salad was found to have more salt per portion than a McDonald’s hamburger.
Nevertheless, the average salt content in supermarket salads is lower, at 1.06g per portion compared with 1.64g in 2005.
"It’s not unreasonable to think that if you pick a salad it’s going to be a healthy choice," said Victoria Taylor the British Heart Foundation. "But this survey shows in some cases what you see might not always be what you get.
"A colourful salad full of vegetables may look like a healthy way towards your five-a-day but what you can’t see is the salt content which, in some cases, could amount to almost a whole day’s worth in one portion."
She added: "It’s good to see progress is being made to drive down our salt intake, but there’s still work to be done. That’s why clear, colour-coded labelling on food packaging is so important to help people make more positive, informed choices about what they eat."
Apart from salt, a range of other additives, preservatives and flavourings are added to prepared salads.
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