Single Indian takeaway chokes your daily caloric allowance

London, June 26 : You might not notice it, but while relishing an Indian takeaway joint's hot curry, you're actually packing in more saturated fat than a person should eat in a day, says a new research.

According to a new report by Consumer group 'Which?', massive levels of fat can be found in the food taken from Indian takeaways.

In their study, Which? tested the calorie, sugar, saturated fat and salt content found in Chinese, Indian and pizza takeaways and rated each meal against the recommended daily allowance.

Researchers found that an average Indian takeaway contained 23.2g of saturated fat, 3.2g more than a woman should eat in a day.

Chinese takeaway, despite having lower saturated fat content, contained nearly three times as much sugar as an Indian meal. One portion contained more than 19 teaspoons of sugar.

A naan bread in an Indian takeaway contained more calories than a chicken tikka masala, according to the meals tested.

Overall, 10 Indian and 10 Chinese meals were ordered from restaurants within a two-mile radius. Four medium thick-crust cheese and tomato pizzas and four medium thin-crust pepperoni pizzas were also tested from each of Domino's Pizza, Perfect Pizza and Pizza Hut.

A standard meal was created for comparison. For the Indian and Chinese meals, this was a 350g-meat dish, 200g of rice and 100g of naan or spring rolls. About half a medium takeaway pizza, or 300g, was used as standard portion for the pizzas.

The report found that some fat content in pizzas from chains such as Pizza Hut and Domino's, differed from information on their websites.

Four Domino's cheese and tomato pizzas tested by Which? contained at least 50 per cent more fat per 100g than stated on the website.

"We are currently conducting a thorough review to ensure that our customers have accurate nutritional data," Telegraph quoted a spokesman for Domino's Pizza, as saying.

A Pizza Hut spokesman added: "Unlike many other takeaway outlets, we provide clear and detailed information on our website to help customers make informed choices about our products. Over the past few years we have significantly reduced fat, salt and sugar across our menu."

Neil Fowler, Editor of Which? said: "We don't want to be killjoys when it comes to takeaways, but we would like people to be aware of just how much of their daily food intake comes in just one meal.

"Highlighting healthier options is useful, but ultimately we want consumers to have much clearer information about fat, sugar and salt levels," he added.

ANI