If we didn’t have enough to worry about what with the calorie, fat and sugar content of pub grub, the Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH) announced today that the capital is suffering at the hands of salty food at London pubs with the added benefit of too much saturated fat. One dish contained more than double the recommended maximum daily intake for a woman. Brilliant.

Now, I’m no health freak. I have never been to a gym in my life and my attempt at going for regular jogs lasted a total of two days. I also love pub grub and do enjoy a meal out at a pub about once a week. That said, obesity isn’t on my check list of things I must do before I hit 30 - I’m a big believer in everything in moderation and not getting too hung up on sugar, calories, fat, blah, blah and blah. I know that stuffing sticky toffee pudding down my gob isn’t the healthiest decision of my life.

I was rather miffed to read the report, however, and find that sticky toffee pudding is one of the main offenders of the survey looking at salty food at London pubs - but that’s the best one! The study looked at 57 pub favourites across 16 of London’s biggest chains. Salt wasn’t the only component under the microscope, either. Fat and calories also featured in the study. It’s enough to make me reach for the celery.

The dubious honour of the saltiest starter went to the spicy coated king prawns from Wetherspoons pub the Moon and Stars, with 4.4g of salt per serving. The worst main course was the Hunter’s chicken from Ye Olde Cherry Tree in Enfield with 5.78g of salt - just shy of the 6g maximum daily intake for an adult. Hmm. And the biggest blow to me personally? The discovery that the worst dessert was the sticky toffee pudding from the Golden Grove. Arg. I’m not even going to go into the fat content findings of the study for fear I’ll give up on dining out altogether. The full report can be read here. That said, it’s not all doom and gloom. The Golden Grove also offered one of the lowest salt dishes on the survey with its breaded mushrooms. Also, in all fairness to Wetherspoons, they are very open about what’s contained within their meals – going as far as to display details on menus.

CASH has offered tips on how to avoid accidentally taking in too much salt. Common sense stuff like choosing plain meat, steamed vegetables and not bacon and salami; ask chefs to make the food with less salt; be careful of hidden salt in so-called healthy options like salads and sauces; and never add extra salt unless you really have to.

I do think we need to get some perspective. I don’t know about you, but I know if I’m tucking into a sticky toffee pudding that it’s not doing my body much good. It’s just damn tasty. As long as it’s all done in moderation. It is good, however, that hidden salt has been brought back into the public eye so people realise that it’s not all about calorie content.

I’m hungry. Pass the pudding!