Takeaway Meals Research Articles

Food consumption norms based on age and income in the UK

PurposeConsumption norms describe an individual’s perception of what or how much most other people typically eat. While gendered consumption norms are well known, consumption norms linked to other demographic variables are yet to be reported. This study aimed to investigate which food consumption norms in relation to gender, age and income are currently held by the UK population. A secondary research objective was to investigate whether these consumption norms were held equally across people in different age groups and genders within the sample population.Design/methodology/approachA sample of 498 adults participated in an online survey composed of statements on consumption patterns based on gender, age and income for nine foods (e.g. red meat) and five meal patterns (e.g. take-away meals). E.g. “Men tend to eat more red meat than women.” Participants reported their agreement/disagreement with these statements.FindingsThe results indicate that participants have perceived consumption norms that are associated with gender, age and income. Lower energy-dense foods and smaller meal patterns were generally associated with females, older persons and individuals with a higher income. In contrast, more energy-dense foods and meal patterns were generally associated with males, younger adults and individuals with a lower income. These consumption norms were held consistently across the population sample.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, this is the first explicit demonstration of food consumption norms based on age and income.

Analysis of consumer requests for reduced-salt meals on a Chinese meal delivery app

The average salt intake of Chinese residents far exceeds the recommended standard. As food delivery becomes increasingly popular among the Chinese public, salt reduction for takeaways is important to reduce salt intake of Chinese residents. However, studies related to salt reduction of takeaways are still very few; especially, no study has explored consumers’ attitudes towards salt level in takeaway meals. The purpose of the study was to objectively measure consumers’ request for reduced-salt options when ordering meals online, from real takeaway orders. Consumer messages from 718 restaurants on a meal delivery app called ELEME in China were collected between July and December 2020. Reduced-salt messages from all consumer messages placed by consumers when ordering meals were extracted to determine the extent of customized salt reduction requests and to analyze the content of those requests. Feature words from messages identified through AI machine learning (Term Frequency and Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency method) were extracted and analyzed. Out of 25,982 consumer messages, 10,549 (40.6%) were reduced-salt messages. Consumers, in general, had the demand to customize dishes with less salt – “less salt” was the most frequently mentioned word for taste preference. Populations with special health and nutritional needs may have a higher demand for reduced-salt meals according to these messages. The study showed definite patterns of demand in a sizable minority of orders and identified the feature words and concepts that could feed into future efforts to create an effective choice architecture in online meal delivery platforms.

Motives for Tipping Behaviour towards Food Delivery Riders: A Perspective from Malaysian Consumers

Tipping is a form of gratitude in which patrons pay extra money to service personnel for excellent service. It often accounts for 15-20% of the entire bill. Tipping customs differ for each country; therefore, it's crucial to understand local practices. Customer tips are given to airport porters, baristas, bartenders, bellmen, busboys, concierges, courtesy van drivers, croupiers, doormen, golf caddies, hotel maids, parking valets, sommeliers, taxicab and delivery drivers, tour guides and servers. According to past research, there are limited studies that focus on tipping food delivery riders or drivers. Thus, this study examines the motives for tipping behaviour toward food delivery riders. Convenience sampling was used, and data from up to 384 were obtained through online survey questionnaires and were analysed using SPSS software. Food delivery consumers who are experienced in giving tips to the food delivery rider are the target respondents of this research. This research will focus on the relationship between the motives variables, which include the weather (1), sympathy (2), autonomy (3), and better service (4) with the tipping practice. The findings of the analysis suggest that the four variables above have a significant relationship with tipping practice. Future research aimed to determine whether and how tipping behaviour changed among individuals who continued eating out by ordering delivery and takeaway meals.

Breaking bread: Assessment of household bread waste incidence and behavioural drivers

Bread, the most consumed floury product in the world, is one of the most wasted food products across the food supply chain. Yet, there is a paucity of research examining the magnitude of bread waste and behavioural drivers associated with it at the household level. This study analyses the incidence, behavioural drivers and disposal pathways of bread waste using a sample of 1462 households in Australia and a 7-day electronic diary method. Behavioural drivers related to bread waste were modelled using logistic regression models. The findings suggest that bread rolls, sliced bread and flat bread are the three most wasted bread products in Australian households. Higher grocery shopping frequency, ‘just-in-case’ buying, family households with young children and takeaway meal ordering are associated with higher bread waste. Bread disposal pathway analysis revealed that 55% of bread and bakery products are discarded through general waste bins, highlighting the immense potential of utilising bread waste in industrial processes such as biofuel production. Addressing bread and bakery waste can significantly contribute to achieving the SDG12.3 goal of halving the per capita food waste by 2030.

Study on determination methods and analysis of micronutrients in take-away meals

To comprehensively analyze the trace nutrient contents in take-away meals, the simultaneous detection method of common vitamins in take-away meals were explored based on the samples' matrix, and the content of trace nutrients in take-away meals was analyzed combined with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry(ICP-MS) detection of common elements. Fifty-seven take-away meals were collected randomly and analyzed. Vitamins were determined by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detector tandem fluorescence detector after pretreatment of samples including enzymatic digestion, hydrolysis and extraction. The separation was performed on a C_(18) column(250 mm×4.6 mm, 5 μm) with ion-pair acid reagents as the mobile phase for water-soluble vitamins and methanol for fat-soluble vitamins. Vitamin B_1, vitamin B_2, nicotinic acid, nicotinamide and vitamin A were detected by ultraviolet detector(UVD), while vitamin B_6 and E by fluorescence detector(FLD). Elemental analysis of calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, zinc, selenium and copper in the take-away meals was carried out according to GB 5009.268-2016 by ICP-MS to comprehensively evaluate the contents of micronutrients. Through optimization of chromatography and sample pretreatment conditions, the sensitivity of the established detection method can meet the needs of micronutrient evaluation with the detection limits and quantification limits of vitamins in the range of 0.002-0.098 mg/100 g and 0.007-0.327 mg/100 g, respectively. Good precision was obtained(<10%). The spiked recovery rates were 80.5%-103.8%(n=6). The result showed that the contents of micronutrients in take-away meals were generally low. The detection rates of vitamins ranged from 21.1% to 98.2%. The proposed method is simple and sensitive, and the contents of vitamins and elements determined were low in the collected take-away meals.

Exploring fairness in food delivery routing and scheduling problems

Demand for delivery of take-away meals to customers has been growing worldwide, with deliveries often performed by non-specialised gig economy couriers working for online platform operators such as Deliveroo or Just Eat. This has led to the introduction of the ‘meal delivery problem’, characterised by a series of individual pickup and delivery tasks to be assigned to available couriers. While there is a vast set of algorithms proposed in the literature that aim to minimise total workload, very little attention has been given to equitably distributing work between couriers. We propose a new multi-objective problem that is aiming at distributing orders equitably between couriers as well as minimising total workload, where all information is known upfront. We propose an integer linear programming (ILP) model with a weighted objective function that is used to derive the Pareto front in small-scale problems by exploiting the ϵ−constraint approach. This formulation has been proven to solve in a reasonable time for problems with up to 60 orders, however, the optimal Pareto front can only be computed within a reasonable time for problems up to 30 orders. For problems with more orders, we propose a Variable Neighbourhood Search (VNS) algorithm, for which the fitness evaluation evolves in order to explore a wider set of the solution space. The VNS is compared against the ILP and also tested on more realistic size instances with up to 3123 orders, improving the performance over the business as usual and shows that equitable distribution of work can be achieved alongside reducing the total travelled distance.

Impact Evaluation of the Get Healthy in Pregnancy Program: Evidence of Effectiveness.

The efficacy of lifestyle interventions for reduced gestational weight gain (GWG) is established, but evidence of their effectiveness is limited. The Get Healthy in Pregnancy (GHiP) program is a telephone health coaching program supporting healthy GWG delivered state-wide in New South Wales, Australia. This evaluation explores the impact of GHiP on behavioural outcomes and GWG, analysing GHiP participant data (n = 3702 for 2018-2019). We conducted McNamar's tests to explore within-individual change for behavioural outcomes and logistic regression to assess associations between demographic characteristics, participant engagement and behavioural and weight outcomes for women who completed the program. Participants who completed ten coaching calls made significant improvements (all p < 0.001) in more health-related behaviours (walking, vigorous physical activity, vegetable consumption, takeaway meals and sweetened drink consumption) than those who completed fewer calls. Among women with valid weight change data (n = 245), 31% gained weight below, 33% gained weight within, and 36% gained weight above GWG guidelines. Pre-pregnancy BMI was the only factor significantly associated with meeting GWG guidelines. Women with pre-pregnancy overweight and obesity had lower odds than those with a healthy weight of having GWG within the guidelines. The majority of these women did not gain weight above the guidelines. A higher proportion of women with pre-pregnancy obesity gained weight below the guidelines (33.8%) than above the guidelines (28.5%). GHiP has the potential to support all pregnant women, including those with pre-pregnancy obesity, to achieve a healthier pregnancy.

Gaps between Attitudes and Behavior in the Use of Disposable Plastic Tableware (DPT) and Factors Influencing Sustainable DPT Consumption: A Study of Hong Kong Undergraduates

Total waste from human activities, including waste plastics, is huge in Hong Kong. In particular, as a result of the prevention and control measures implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic, take-away meals increased tremendously in Hong Kong, generating disposable plastic tableware (DPT). Although Hong Kong has a charging scheme for plastic bags, it does not have a scheme for plastic tableware. Therefore, this study aimed to understand the attitudes and behavior of people in Hong Kong toward DPT. Our study focused on undergraduate students in Hong Kong, given that they will play a significant role in the future of environmental sustainability. The attitudes and behavior of Hong Kong undergraduate students toward DPT were examined through an online survey with 385 respondents. A multiple stepwise regression was conducted to investigate whether cognitive attitude formation factors could explain the sustainable attitudes formed by undergraduate students in Hong Kong. The survey results revealed that most undergraduates considered DPT to be one of the major causes of environmental damage in Hong Kong; however, many of them, particularly those who strongly agreed with this statement, said that the problem of DPT did not affect their quality of life. The regression analysis showed that imposing a DPT charge would be the most significant driver to reduce its use. The research findings identified gaps between attitudes and behavior regarding the use of DPT and the factors influencing sustainable DPT consumption.

Long-term health effects of a school construction program.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) disproportionately affect people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), yet context-specific evidence on policies that impact NCD risk factors is lacking. We estimate the impact of a massive Indonesian primary school expansion program in the 1970s on NCD risk factors in later life using data from two surveys with very large sample sizes. We find that in non-Java regions of Indonesia, the program led to significant increases in the likelihood of overweight and high waist circumference among women, but not among men. The increase for women can be partly explained by increased consumption of high-calorie packaged and take-away meals. We find no meaningful impacts on high blood pressure for either sex. Despite the increase in body weight, the program had a negligible impact on diabetes and cardiovascular disease diagnosis. It led to an improvement in women's self-reported health outcomes in their early-40s, but these benefits largely disappeared once they reached their mid-40s.

Eating Patterns of Young Women (18-25 y) with Overweight and Obesity: A Preliminary Investigation.

Overweight and obesity impact up to 40% of young women in Australia; however, young women are challenging to recruit to research and are rarely the focus of weight loss interventions. This study aimed to examine dietary patterns in young women (18-25 years; BMI > 25 kg/m2). An analysis of participants' (mean age: 22.6 year; BMI: 32.2 kg/m2) 3-day food records found young women with overweight/obesity consumed a diet characterised by total energy intake of 9174 (2526) kJ/day, with the first meal at 9:12 am (range: 4:30 am-12:40 pm), the last at 10:43 pm (range: 2:40 pm-2:00 am), and an average eating window of 11.5 h. Young women had poor quality diets, which did not meet dietary recommendations for most core food groups, and high intake of refined carbohydrates. They also reported consuming at least one takeaway meal per day and >30% of total energy intake was from discretionary items. The findings showed that young women with overweight or obesity consume most of their energy intake in the afternoons and late into the evenings and have poor-quality diets with high-discretionary intake, each of which have been shown in previous work to be associated with increased weight and risk of metabolic comorbidities. While these findings require further examination in larger groups with both qualitative and longitudinal data collection to verify the impact of these eating patterns on weight maintenance, the eating behaviours identified here may present a suitable target for novel weight loss interventions in young women, who are an understudied population group in need of tailored weight management solutions.

Impact of COVID-19 on dietary intake, sleeping patterns and physical activity levels among Malaysian University students.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a significant impact on people's behaviour and lifestyles. Limited research has been conducted on the impact of COVID-19 on Malaysian university students' lifestyle modifications. This study aims to identify the impact of COVID-19 on dietary intake, sleeping patterns and physical activity levels among Malaysian university students. A total of 261 university students were recruited. Sociodemographic and anthropometric data were collected. Dietary intake was assessed using PLifeCOVID-19 questionnaire, sleep quality was assessed using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index Questionnaire (PSQI) while physical activity level was assessed using International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Forms (IPAQ-SF). SPSS was used to perform statistical analysis. 30.7% of the participants adhered to the unhealthy dietary pattern, 48.7% had poor quality of sleep and 59.4% engaged in low physical activity levels during the pandemic. Unhealthy dietary pattern was significantly associated with a lower IPAQ category (p=0.013), and increased time spent sitting (p=0.027) during the pandemic. Participants being underweight before the pandemic (aOR=2.472, 95% CI=1.358-4.499), increased takeaway meal consumption (aOR=1.899, 95% CI=1.042-3.461), increased snacking between meals consumption (aOR=2.989, 95% CI=1.653-5.404) and engaged in a low level of physical activity during pandemic (aOR=1.935, 95% CI=1.028-3.643) were the predictors of unhealthy dietary pattern. The university students' dietary intake, sleeping patterns, and physical activity levels were impacted in different ways during the pandemic. Strategies and interventions should be developed and implemented to improve the dietary intake and lifestyle of the students.

Understanding weight status and dietary intakes among Australian school children by remoteness: a cross-sectional study.

To determine whether primary school children's weight status and dietary behaviours vary by remoteness as defined by the Australian Modified Monash Model (MMM). A cross-sectional study design was used to conduct secondary analysis of baseline data from primary school students participating in a community-based childhood obesity trial. Logistic mixed models estimated associations between remoteness, measured weight status and self-reported dietary intake. Twelve regional and rural Local Government Areas in North-East Victoria, Australia. Data were collected from 2456 grade 4 (approximately 9-10 years) and grade 6 (approximately 11-12 years) students. The final sample included students living in regional centres (17·4 %), large rural towns (25·6 %), medium rural towns (15·1 %) and small rural towns (41·9 %). Weight status did not vary by remoteness. Compared to children in regional centres, those in small rural towns were more likely to meet fruit consumption guidelines (OR: 1·75, 95 % CI (1·24, 2·47)) and had higher odds of consuming fewer takeaway meals (OR: 1·37, 95 % CI (1·08, 1·74)) and unhealthy snacks (OR = 1·58, 95 % CI (1·15, 2·16)). Living further from regional centres was associated with some healthier self-reported dietary behaviours. This study improves understanding of how dietary behaviours may differ across remoteness levels and highlights that public health initiatives may need to take into account heterogeneity across communities.

Exploration of the Dynamic Evolution of Online Public Opinion towards Waste Classification in Shanghai.

Shanghai is one of the fastest-growing metropolises and the first city in China to implement mandatory waste classification. Waste classification policy of Shanghai has attracted widespread attention since its implementation in July 2019. However, previous papers have not focused on online public attitudes surrounding the implementation of a waste classification policy in Shanghai. In order to fill this gap, this paper explored the dynamic evolution of online public attitudes towards waste classification in Shanghai by using sentiment analysis technology and topic modeling technology. It was found that the proportion of negative posts each month was about 20%; therefore, online public sentiment towards waste classification in Shanghai was generally positive. Compared with the first three months of policy implementation, the public sentiment towards Shanghai's waste classification became more positive, with the exception of two special periods. Negative posts in July 2019 mainly discussed waste's environmental hazards and policy provisions. New topics in negative posts in later months focused on some specific problems, including the process of throwing away wet waste, the allocated throwing times, the number of waste cans, takeaway meal disposal, and gathering activities. Improving the factors causing the negative sentiments in the posts will help the government better implement the policy. The paper will help the government to receive higher public support for the waste classification policy in Shanghai. The present findings also have great reference significance for other cities.

Understanding different types of consumers: A multi-group analysis based on convenience food-related lifestyle

&lt;abstract&gt; &lt;p&gt;The primary objective of this study is to identify categories of organic food consumers based on the CFL (convenience food related lifestyle). Secondarily, this study explores characteristics, motivations/barriers in consumption and perception regarding to self-focus perception (such as perceived consequence of purchasing organic food) and altruistic behaviour (such as recycling behavior and perception of transportation) in different CFL. 1,262 valid samples are collected in this study. Moderate, convenience-pursuing and quality-pursuing categories are separated by cluster analysis. Consumer attitudes toward ready-made meals and takeaway meal solutions, perceived consequences of purchasing organic food, purchase frequency and quantity are differential, and the influence of organic food purchasing perception of consequence on altruistic behaviour are differences in CFL. Only consumers who purchase organic food motivated by environmental concerns are able to improve their recycling behavior. This study believes that the CFL framework has enhanced the understanding of consumer buying behavior and characteristics.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/abstract&gt;

Determinants of Changes in the Diet Quality of Japanese Adults during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

This study evaluated changes in diet quality during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its association with variations in attitudes or behavior, as well as health status changes. Participants were Japanese adults aged 20-69 years who resided in 13 prefectures where specific cautions were announced to prevent the spread of the virus. An online survey was conducted in September 2021, and participants were those who shopped for food or prepared meals more than twice a week during the survey. Overall, 2101 participants were analyzed. An improved or worsened diet quality was determined based on changes in food consumption patterns, and participants were categorized into three groups (improved diet quality (IDQ), worsened diet quality (WDQ), and others). The IDQ group participants (10.2%) improved their dietary consciousness during COVID-19, cooked almost everything from ingredients, and increased their balanced meal eating frequency. However, the WDQ participants (11.1%) had worsened dietary consciousness and increased consumption of takeaway meals and alcohol but decreased balanced meal consumption. Cooking frequency changes were not independent determinants of variations in diet quality. Our results show that the diet quality changes during COVID-19 were possibly caused by changes in dietary consciousness or different levels of meal preparation practices.

Drivers of public plastic (mis)use — New insights from changes in single-use plastic usage during the Covid-19 pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) has influenced resource use and how people interact with their environment, with changing priorities and competing public health factors affecting pro-environmental behaviours at individual, societal, business and political levels.We used data from an online plastic footprint calculator to explore temporal changes, purchasing patterns and consumer behaviours around on-the-go plastic use during the pandemic. We hypothesised that 1) people's plastic use when on-the-go would change in response to the pandemic and related government restrictions and; 2) single-use plastic use on-the-go would decrease during lockdown periods due to restrictions against leaving home.The calculator received 1937 responses, with 13,544 plastic items recorded. Most used were food wrappers (54 % of all items), takeaway containers (12 %) and bottles (9 %). Six out of seven items showed increased use during lockdowns, in-line with our first hypothesis, but not the second. Three times more bottles were used, food wrapper consumption almost doubled, and takeaway container use more than doubled. Increased container use occurred alongside increased takeaway meal consumption during lockdowns. Patterns were similar between different periods of lockdown, with no significant differences in the number used of any items, or percentage of respondents using them. Results indicate that during lockdown, people found it harder to avoid single-use plastic while on-the-go, supporting evidence from other studies that plastic use can be driven by perceptions of hygiene benefits and lack of “safe” alternatives. Our results indicate opportunities to reduce single-use plastic consumption and we provide examples of successful implementation. Our findings evidence that, when properly applied, government-led guidance can effectively support consumer choices for reduced plastic use, encourage use of reusables, increase provision of alternatives, and dispel hygiene myths. The sudden increase in plastic waste due to the Covid-19 pandemic amplifies the need to substantiate plastic reduction policy promises without further delay.

Consumption of takeaway and delivery meals is associated with increased BMI and percent fat among UK Biobank participants

ABSTRACTBackgroundConsumption of meals bought from out-of-home sources is a suggested risk factor for obesity, but the supporting evidence is mixed.ObjectivesTo investigate the association between consumption of different types of meals and BMI or percent body fat.MethodsData were from the UK Biobank in response to a “Type of Meals Eaten” survey, which specified the sources of the meals consumed over the previous 24 h. Because direction of causality is unknown, the data were analyzed with meal choice as the dependent variable first and then BMI as the dependent variable second.ResultsThe total number of participants was 5197 (2841 women and 2356 men). Participants with higher BMI and percent body fat were more likely to report consuming takeaway and/or delivery meals, with prevalence ORs (95% CIs) of 2.12 (95% CI: 1.40, 3.22; Bonferroni P < 0.0001) for women's adjusted BMI, 1.95 (95% CI: 1.30, 2.93; Bonferroni P < 0.0001) for women's adjusted percent body fat, 1.65 (95% CI: 1.05, 2.59; Bonferroni P < 0.002) for men's adjusted BMI, and 1.41 (95% CI: 0.70, 2.84; Bonferroni P < 0.01) for men's adjusted percent body fat. As BMI and percent body fat increased, both men and women were increasingly less likely to report having consumed a home-cooked and prepared meal during the previous 24 h. Analyzing the data with BMI and percent body fat as the dependent variable showed that both unadjusted and adjusted BMI and percent body fat were higher in individuals reporting consumption of takeaway and delivery foods the previous day and lower in those consuming homecooked meals. The probability of having consumed a meal that was prepared and eaten at a restaurant and/or café was also associated with BMI and percent fat among men but not women.ConclusionsHomecooked meals were more often consumed by those with low BMI and percent body fat, whereas delivery and takeaway meals were more often eaten by individuals with higher BMI. Consumption of fast-food/café meals was not consistently associated with BMI or percent body fat. The direction of causality in these associations cannot be inferred from this cross-sectional study.

An Indicator Measuring the Influence of the Online Public Food Environment: An Analytical Framework and Case Study.

The online public food environment (OPFE) has had a considerable impact on people's lifestyles over the past decade; however, research on its exposure is sparse. The results of the existing research on the impact of the food environment on human health are inconsistent. In response to the lack of food elements in the definition of the food environment and the lack of a clear method to assess the health attributes and the impact degree of the food environment, we proposed a new analytical framework based on the latest disease burden research, combining the characteristics of China's current food environment, from the perspective of environmental science. We redefined the food environment and proposed that food and its physical space are two core elements of the food environment. Accordingly, we extracted four domains of characteristics to describe the basic components of the food environment. Using the sales records, we designed an approach by referring to the standard process of environmental health indicators, including the health attributes and the impact degree of the food environment, to measure the OPFE of takeaway food outlets. Further, we conducted a case study and extracted three domains of characteristics for more than 18,000 effective takeaway meals from 812 takeaway food outlets located in 10 administrative subdivisions in the Haidian District and Xicheng District of Beijing Municipality. The results showed that more than 60% of single meals sold by takeaway food outlets were considered as healthy, and only 15% of takeaway food outlets sold healthy meals exclusively. Additionally, there were significant differences in health effects among different types of food environments, and high-risk areas of different types of food environments can be spatially identified. Compared with the counting method in the availability of food environment, the proposed new approach can depict food environment characteristics not only in the macro-scale like the counting method but also in the meal-scale. The indicators could be useful for large-scale and long-term monitoring of food environmental changes due to their simple calculation and design depending on the food delivery platform.

A facile molecularly imprinted column coupled to GC-MS/MS for sensitive and selective determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and study on their migration in takeaway meal boxes

The analysis of toxic and harmful substances in food has attracted significant attention. In this work, a molecularly imprinted column coupled to gas chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry method (MIC-GC-MS/MS) method for the determination of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in takeaway meal boxes was established by comparing the extraction results of 16 PAHs with 5 different sample pretreatment techniques, and the effects of food types and storage conditions on the migration of PAHs was studied by migration test. The conditions of extraction and chromatography-mass spectrometry were optimized. The results showed that the linear ranges were in the wide range of 1–100 ng mL−1 for 16 PAHs, with the correlation coefficients (R) higher than 0.9983; the detection limits (LODs) and the limits of quantification (LOQs) were in the range of 0.08–0.42 μg kg−1 and 0.24–1.26 μg kg −1, respectively; the spiked recoveries at three levels of 10, 20, 30 μg kg−1 were in the range of 86.2%–107.7% with the relative standard deviation (RSD) less than 7.8%. Therefore, this method had high sensitivity and good reproducibility and was suitable for the determination of 16 PAHs in food contact materials. The migration test of PAHs showed that the migration amount of PAHs in takeaway meal boxes was closely related to food types, and the migration amount was positively correlated with contact temperature and contact time in a certain range.

Sodium Content in Takeaway Meals Sampled from Three Large China Cities

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate salt levels in popular hot takeaway meals in three large China cities, and to compare the difference in sodium content in different types of takeaway meals. Methods: We randomly collected a total of 4450 samples of 7 different types of takeaway meals, which were the most consumed by local residents from takeaway platforms. The main ingredients, auxiliary ingredients, as well as the weight used in takeaway meals were collected. The sodium content in takeaway meals was obtained by calculation. Results: Obtained results show that the sodium content in three large China cities is alarmingly high. Comparing medians (interquartile range) of takeaway meals from different cities, Beijing contained the highest sodium content per portion (1371.3 mg (890.3 - 2137.4)), followed by Hangzhou (1348.45 mg (694.25 - 1541.62)) and Shanghai (340.1 (259.75 - 942.25)). In addition, the sodium content between pasta and porridge, Chinese meals, and western meals show significant differences (p 0.05). Compared with Chinese Dietary Reference Intakes, the average sodium content exceeded dietary recommendations for one takeaway meal. The sodium content differed among takeaway meals prepared with various cooking methods and meats. Conclusion: Notable differences are detected in takeaway meals’ sodium content between several large cities in China. To meet China’s target salt intake, consumers in these cities are highly recommended to reduce sodium content in their everyday meals.