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| Seasoned chicken / Getty images bank |
The Seoul Research Institute of Public Health and Environment, along with Consumers Korea, found the increased level of sugars and sodium in their study on four chicken menu items from six franchise chains between August and September. The items tested were regular fried chicken, soy sauce chicken, cheese chicken and yangnyeom chicken (or chicken with sweet and spicy sauce), from fried chicken chains BBQ, BHC, NeNe, Kyochon, Goobne and Pelicana.
According to the study which compared the levels with those of a 2015 study by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the content of sugar in sweet and spicy sauce chicken grew from 6.2 grams to 8.6 grams per 100 grams of chicken, and that of sodium, from 402.7 milligrams to 516 milligrams per 100 grams.
The sugar levels of the sweet and spicy sauce chicken was 17.2 times that of regular fried chicken. A person having half a yangnyeom chicken would consume a quarter of the daily recommended intake of sugar, or 100 grams.
Topping sodium levels, cheese chicken showed the highest content with 627.1 milligrams. A half chicken contained 1,590 milligrams of sodium on average, or 79.5 percent of the daily recommended intake.
The city government shared the study results with the franchise companies in December, and four companies ― with the exception of BBQ and BHC ― stated they would endeavor to reduce the use of sugar and sodium in their recipes.
