While they might be a cheap and convenient snack, instant noodles contain alarmingly high amounts of salt in every serve, a new report has revealed.

The George Institute for Global Health (GIGH) found the high and unnecessary amount of salt in instant noodles sold in Australia and around the world, on average containing more sodium than two Big Macs.

In 765 products collected from 10 countries, GIGH found an average noodle packet contained more than 80 per cent of the daily recommended intake.

“Out of the 10 countries, Australia was the country with the second-highest average salt content for instant noodles,” Clare Farrand, lead researcher and Public Health Nutritionist at GIGH, told The New Daily.

“The global recommendation is that we eat no more than five grams of salt per day, and the average packet of noodles contains 83 per cent of that.

“That’s an entire day’s worth of salt, we shouldn’t be eating more than that.

“In the average packet of noodles in Australia you would far exceed what you should be eating in a meal, and instant noodles are often considered as a snack.”

Australia’s instant noodle salt levels were ranked the second highest in the world behind China. The average Australian instant noodle packet contained 1668mg of sodium.

Based on the serving size provided on the pack, the worst offender in Australia was Aldi’s ‘Simplee Two Minute Noodles Chicken Flavour Instant Noodles’, which contained 2.67g salt per serving.

We compared the salt in one serve of Aldi’s ‘Simplee Two Minute Noodles Chicken Flavour Instant Noodles’ to some seemingly salty snack foods.

The results showed that the ‘Simplee’ noodles contained the same amount of salt as…

Noodles used for comparison were Aldi ‘Simplee Two Minute Noodles Chicken Flavour Instant Noodles’.

However, comparing products by grams of salt per 100g, Maggi Mi Goreng Fusion Soy & Mild Spice contains the most salt.

Fatal impacts on health

The World Health Organisation recommends no more than 5g of salt per day.

These Maggi noodles had the most salt per 100g, the study found.

But according to Ms Farrand, Australians eat 8-9g of salt each day.

“Eating too much salt puts up your blood pressure and an increase in blood pressure puts you at risk of developing cardiovascular disease including heart attacks, heart disease and stroke,” she said.

“High salt intake is also linked to other health implications such as osteoporosis, stomach cancer, and Alzheimer’s.

“Cardiovascular disease is the biggest killer worldwide so by reducing your salt intake you reduce the risk.”