Government urged to prioritise public health as takeaway food analysis reveals alarming findings

An analysis of 158 popular takeaway dishes across Scotland has uncovered alarming findings, prompting Food Standards Scotland (FSS) to urge the Scottish Government to take stronger, long-term action to improve the nation's food environment. 

Popular takeaway items from independent outlets—including doner kebabs, battered pizza, macaroni cheese, and millionaire’s shortbread—were analysed as part of the study. 

Beyond excessive calorie counts, the results revealed consistently high levels of saturated fat and salt, alongside a lack of dietary fibre. Key findings include: 

• The average doner kebab contained 1283 calories which is 64% of the recommended daily amount for an adult female, and 50% more saturated fat than the recommended daily limit. 

• The average portion of battered pizza delivered 1,327 calories - 66% of the daily recommended intake - and contained more than double the maximum recommended daily salt. 
• The average slice of millionaire’s shortbread contained 34.1g of sugar, a significant contributor to excess sugar intake. 

Regularly exceeding daily recommendations for calories, saturated fat and salt can lead to weight gain, high cholesterol and high blood pressure – all of which can increase the risk of developing health complications over time. 

The nutritional content of children's meals was especially alarming. On average, a children's portion of cheeseburger and chips contained 982 calories, 20.9g of saturated fat, and 3.4g of salt—equating to nearly 58% of the recommended daily calorie intake for a 7–10-year-old, 98% of the maximum daily saturated fat, and 68% of the recommended salt limit. 

In addition, there was a striking variation in both portion size and nutritional content of the same meal across different outlets. For example, the calorie content of macaroni cheese ranged dramatically—from just 296 kcal to a staggering 2,107 kcal. 

At present, Scotland’s food environment heavily incentivises and promotes foods which contribute disproportionately to energy, fat, saturated fat, salt and free sugar intakes while offering little if any nutritional value.  

FSS says action must be taken to stem the tide of foods high in fat, sugar and/or salt so that healthier choices become easier and more appealing for everyone.   

Laura Wilson, Head of Public Health Nutrition at FSS, says: 

“We need to rebalance the food environment towards food that is healthy, available, and affordable.  

“We're not here to discourage anyone from enjoying a takeaway — we understand it's enjoyed by many and here to stay. But Government policy needs to be more ambitious in tackling the widening health inequalities and meet Scotland’s ambition to halve childhood obesity by 2030.” 

FSS has successfully worked with food business operators on recipe and product reformulation to help improve food on offer in Scotland. 

 “There are straightforward steps that food outlets and the wider industry can take to reduce overall calorie content and enhance the nutritional quality of their offerings. 

“Making a modest reduction in portion size has the potential to reduce calories, reduce food waste and increase profitability if prices are retained, and support health whilst doing so,” said Mrs Wilson. 

Frances Bain, Mission Manager for Nesta’s A Healthy Life Mission, says, 

“Many of us eat out of home as we go about our daily lives. We can see from this research that what’s on offer is often far from healthy. Five of the six meal types sampled contained over 50 percent of the maximum dietary recommendation for calories per day. 11 out of the 14 food types sampled contained an average of over 600 calories, which is the suggested total amount for a meal.  

“We know from the findings of this research that it is possible for businesses to successfully produce and sell slightly healthier versions of our favourite ‘on the go’ foods. These small changes can be beneficial to our health and we need to do more to encourage and support businesses to improve the nutritional content and reduce the calories in these meals, whilst still ensuring that our food remains enjoyable.”