EATING a portion of burger and chips may be healthier than a fast-food salad, it has emerged.

A survey of fast-food outlets found that many salads were laced with more salt than burgers and that dressings were drenched with high-saturated fat.

Analysis of meals on offer at McDonald’s and KFC found that three supposedly healthy salads were the saltiest options on the menu. Each contained more than 3g of salt per portion — more than half the 6g recommended daily intake by the Food Standards Agency.

The tests were organised by Which?, the consumer magazine, and also included food on sale at Burger King and Pizza Hut. Fast-food giants have been trying to improve their image and help to tackle the nation’s obesity crisis but some healthy options are clearly not what they claim to be. Among the unexpected findings was the content of a KFC Original Chicken salad, which had more salt per portion than the Colonel’s chicken fillet burger and regular fries — 1.5g per 100g compared with 0.9g per 100g.

Its Zinger Crunch salad had 0.9g salt plus 7.7g fat per 100g. A McDonald’s Crispy Chicken Ranch salad with dressing had 11.1g of saturated fat per portion, more than half the daily 20g limit for a woman. The salad also had 1.2g of salt per 100g. Its grilled Chicken Caesar salad with dressing and croutons had 1g salt and 3.7g fat per 100g.

The McDonald’s Grilled Chicken salad with balsamic dressing and croutons contained 0.9g salt per 100g, but fared better on fat content, at 4.4g per 100g.

Laboratory tests also found that some foods had higher amounts of calories, fat, salt and saturated fat than claimed. A McDonald’s Big Mac and Medium Fries had 786 calories, according to the company’s website, but tests showed it was really 900.

Burger King and KFC are also criticised in the report for providing inaccurate information about nutrition content on their websites. For example, a Burger King Whopper and Regular Fries contained 19g saturated fat compared with the 13g stated on its website. A KFC Zinger Crunch salad had 6.7g saturated fat, nearly treble the 2.4g stated on the website. The company blamed the discrepancy on “over-portioning” at some stores.

Malcom Coles, Editor of Which?, said that the fast-food industry should give consumers accurate information about amounts of fat, sugar and salt in foods and called for the amounts to be prominently displayed. He said: “Don’t assume that a salad is always a healthy option — you could be getting a large helping of fat and salt on the side. Although fast-food companies now offer more choice, it’s hard to know what you’re really getting.”

A separate survey by the watchdog also found that children were taken in by the marketing claims of the fast-food companies and said that they loved fast food, with some even saying that they thought it healthy. Mr Coles, however, is concerned about multimillion-pound TV advertising budgets that tempt children with new products and free toys and wants such “aggressive marketing” to be stopped.

McDonald’s said that the company had changed its crispy chicken recipe since the research was conducted in July and August. Burger King said that its website gave “typical” nutrition figures intended as a guide for customers though some variations could occur.

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