The Taiwan Association of Food Protection yesterday cautioned people over the damage caused by excessive sodium intake, after a recent test by the Taipei City Department of Health revealed that the amount of sodium in some instant noodles exceeded the amount stated on the packages by almost threefold.
Last month, the Department of Health randomly tested the sodium content of 35 samples of instant noodles and found that six of them had falsely stated their sodium content on the ingredient labels.
Of these six, one had a sodium content lower than the amount indicated on the label, but the other five contained more sodium than advertised on the products’ packaging.
The Taiwan Association of Food Protection subsequently released a report by Cheng Chin-pao (鄭金寶), the director of the department of dietetics at National Taiwan University Hospital, alterting consumers of instant noodles to the guidance on dietary salt intake issued by the WHO.
In the report, Cheng said that some brand-name instant noodles contain as much as 2,900mg of sodium per pack, an amount that exceeds the recommended daily intake by almost 1.5 times.
The new guidelines on sodium intake issued by the WHO state that “adults should consume less than 2,000mg of sodium, or 5g of salt” per day.
The organization also warns that an individual with elevated sodium levels “could be at risk of raised blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.”
However, the latest national Nutrition and Health Survey, conducted by the Department of Health, shows that the daily salt intake of the average Taiwanese adult is between 9g and 10g, far higher than the WHO’s recommended amount.
The survey also showed that the salt intake of those who often eat out or favor salty food can be as high as 15g a day, indicating that the average Taiwanese is at risk of damaging their health due to excessive sodium intake.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
RSS