ARCHIVED: Healthy Chinese Takeout

This is archived and no longer an ongoing PDPH program. Data available as a point in time snapshot in 2015. Healthy Chinese Takeout participants as of 2/5/15.The Philadelphia Healthy Chinese Take-out Initiative worked to prevent and control high blood pressure in Philadelphia residents by 1) reducing the sodium content in Chinese take-out dishes by 10-15% and 2) decreasing access to tobacco products. The initiative is a joint effort among Temple University’s Center for Asian Health, the Asian Community Health Coalition, the Philadelphia Chinese Restaurant Association, and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. Excess consumption of sodium (salt) and tobacco use are two major contributors to hypertension, heart disease and stroke. Chinese take-out restaurant dishes can have large amounts of sodium mainly due to the sauces used in preparation and cooking. And Chinese take-out restaurants tend to have higher rates of illegal tobacco sales to minors than other retailers. To date, 200 Chinese take-out restaurants have enrolled in the initiative, participated in a low-sodium healthy cooking training with a professional chef, and received education about complying with the Tobacco Youth Sales Law.