Analysis of 12 Mineral Elements in Takeaway Fast Food in Beijing and Preliminary Dietary Nutritional Assessment

In this paper, the contents of 12 mineral elements in 100 samples of four types of takeaway fast food, including porridge and noodles, special snacks, Chinese fast food and Western fast food, sold in Beijing were analyzed by ICP-MS, and the RNI and UL values of the elements were used as the assessment criteria for preliminary dietary nutritional assessment of different age groups. The results showed that the range of mineral element contents in the samples was wide and the degree of dispersion was large. The intakes of Na, I and Cr could meet the daily dietary needs of the whole population in all types of takeaway samples, while the intakes of Ca, Mg and Fe were insufficient. The insufficient intakes of K, Zn, Cu, Mn, Mo and Se were found in some of the samples of some populations. The intakes of the 12 elements showed different degrees of variability among the four types of takeaways, with lower intakes of each element in congee and noodle dishes, and K, Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe, Se and Cr showed significant differences from the other three types. The intake of each element was lower in congee and noodles, which showed significant differences with the other three categories. In addition, the intake of take-away fast food was found to be excessive, with Zn and I exceeding 1.1%~5.3% and 3.6%~14.3%, respectively, in different age groups. The results showed that the long-term take-away population should pay attention to adjusting their dietary structure, balancing the intake of take-away food containing meat, vegetables, legumes, eggs and milk, and appropriately replenishing various types of minerals with insufficient intake. At the same time the health risks of “over-nutrition” brought about by fast food takeaways should be paid attention, and the young minors were the key concern groups.