CookSmart (5th Issue) Page13

Eating Out with Dietitian

Chinese style tea restaurants (alias Cha Chaan Teng) are one of the common eating places in Hong Kong. If you do not make food choices wisely, you may fall into the trap of high fat, salt, sugar and low fibre easily.

Doris Lau, a registered dietitian, reminds us to follow the ‘Food Pyramid’ guides as we pick our food. The ‘Food Pyramid’ recommends that one's diet should start with plenty of whole grain products, which is followed by fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy products in descending order. People should, at the same time, minimize their daily consumption on oil, salt and sugar.

Watch out for the following food in a Chinese style tea restaurant:

Oil

Stir-fried noodles and rice served with sauce contain high fat content. A dish of stir-fried rice noodles with beef, for instance, contains an equivalent of 18 teaspoons of cooking oil. Yet the recommended maximum daily intake for an adult who needs 2,000 kilocalories of energy is 13 teaspoons only. Other fried food (such as French fries, French toast and samosa) and instant noodles are also laden with fat.

Sugar

Soft drinks, instant malt drinks and cocoa drinks are sugary. People also love to add sugar in tea and coffee. Remember! The maximum intake for an adult who needs 2,000 kilocalories of energy is equivalent to 5 teaspoons of sugar a day.

Salt

Processed or preserved food (e.g. sausages, ham, barbecued pork, salted eggs and pickled vegetables) and canned food (e.g. luncheon meat) all contain salt. Salt, as well as flavour enhancers, have a high content of sodium, which correlates to increased risk of heart disease. For instance, 1/4 teaspoon of salt contains 600 mg of sodium, and 1 teaspoon of meat tenderizer, soda powder, chicken powder and soy sauce contains 1,600 mg, 810 mg 750 mg and 370 mg of sodium respectively, while the maximum sodium intake for an adult is 2,400 mg per day.