By Yoon Ja-young
Breakfast meals offered at fast food restaurants are becoming popular among busy Koreans, but a consumer group warned that they may end up eating too much sodium and saturated fat.
According to Consumers Korea, breakfast sets offered at Burger King, McDonald’s and Lotteria, Lotte Group’s fast food chain, included on average 1,190 milligrams of sodium. That is equivalent to 59.5 percent of the recommended daily intake.
Burger King’s King Bacon Muffin Set, comprising a muffin and hash brown, had the most sodium at 1,342 milligrams, more than its famous Whopper Set. Lotteria’s Sausage Egg Muffin Set was next on the list, with 1,329 milligrams.
“With the increasing number of single-person households and couples where both husband and wife have jobs, the breakfast market is growing,” the NGO noted. “Fast food chains are selling breakfast meals, promoting convenience, relatively cheap prices and easy access, but consumers lack information to check on their quality.”
The analysis of nine breakfast sets offered at the three fast food chains showed that those regularly eating them also risk consuming too much saturated fat. Each of the breakfast sets included on average 6.7 grams of saturated fat, which is 44.4 percent of the daily recommended intake.
Those comprising sausages or bacon had higher portions of saturated fat than those based on ham. Among the nine breakfast meals analyzed, McDonald’s Sausage Egg McMuffin Set had the most saturated fat at 9.7 grams, with Lotteria’s Bacon Sausage Egg Muffin Set next on the list.
“According to nutrition guidelines for Koreans, they are recommended to consume between 15 and 30 percent of calories from fat. However, fat makes up 42.9 percent of the calories in these breakfast meals,” the consumer group noted.
“The breakfast meals at fast food chains are mostly composed of bread, ham and eggs, lacking fruits and vegetables,” the NGO noted, adding that there should be more diversified options for a balanced diet.
A consumer survey by the NGO showed that half of consumers want fast food chains to decrease the sodium in the breakfast meals. More than one-third of consumers also complained that the food wasn’t as good as it looked in pictures.
“Consumers see the pictures on the menu when choosing food, so the fast food companies should try to make it exactly like the one in the image,” the NGO said.