A single Pizza Express children’s meal contains all of a toddler’s daily salt allowance, a new documentary reveals.
An American pizza from the restaurant chain’s ‘Piccolo’ children’s menu contains 2.3g of salt, 0.3g more than the recommended 2g daily intake for children under three.
The revelation is made in Monday night’s episode of Channel 4 series Tricks of the Restaurant Trade.
A family sampled children’s menus at popular restaurants including Pizza Express for the latest episode of Channel 4 series Tricks of the Restaurant Trade
The episode sees parents Kevin and Leanne take their sons Maxwell, seven, and Nathanial, three, to sample children’s menus at popular family restaurants.
It comes after research from the Soil Association revealed that 12 out of 25 of the biggest chains don’t serve a portion of vegetables or salad with a children’s meal.
First the family sampled the menu at Pizza Express, which ranked 15th on the Soil Associations list of the least healthy restaurants.
The restaurant offers children a three-course meal, including doughballs and a salad to start; a choice of eight mains; and a dessert.
Maxwell and Nathanial both chose to have pizzas for their main meals and both were given the same portion size.
An American pizza from the restaurant chain’s ‘Piccolo’ children’s menu contains 2.3g of salt, 0.3g more than the recommended 2g daily intake for children under three. File image
When producers looked at the nutritional information online they found the American Piccolo pizza contained three-year-old Nathanial’s entire recommended daily salt allowance.
There are other items available on the menu that contain less salt, with the pasta options containing a fraction of the amount.
The family also sampled the children’s menu at Pizza Hut, which placed 17th on the Soil Associations restaurant rankings.
The programme found that an ice cream with toppings from the brand’s Ice Cream Factory contained roughly 269 calories and roughly 10 teaspoons of sugar.
Pizza Hut also offers different portion sizes for children of different ages and also includes a range of menu options.
MailOnline has contacted Pizza Hut and Pizza Express for comment.
Tricks of the Restaurant Trade airs Monday at 8.30pm on Channel 4