Malaysia is blessed with a multicultural population, its streets often open to a variety of street food from finger food to small dishes. Street food is like a culinary gem within the country and one that unites the people within.

Malaysian street food mainly comprises of food from Malay, Chinese and Indian cuisines fused with the local flavors. Examples of street foods in Malaysia are Nasi Lemak, Satay, Char Kway Teow, Roti Canai, Laksa etc. All these contribute to the unique taste experience which makes this multicultural country one of a kind.

However, excessive consumption of these street foods results in undesirable effects on one’s health. Street foods in Malaysia have been shown to have a high content of calories, fat and salt. 

The paper “Street Food in Malaysia: What Are the Sodium Levels?” published in 2022 highlighted the types of street food that are popular in the streets of Malaysia and their sodium content. Street foods were selected based on their expected sodium content, thus desserts which are mostly sugar were not included.

The aim of the study was to create awareness and serve as baseline data for future interventions on sodium content in the Malaysian diet.

The study conducted in 2 phases, surveyed the most frequently available street foods in the states of Malaysia and sampled as well as analyzed the sodium content in them (reported mg/100g sample).

Street food in the snack category contained the highest amount of sodium (433 mg), followed by main meals (336.5 mg) and desserts (168 mg). Approximately 30% of the local street food in this study was deep-fried. Snacks from processed food (8%) contained high sodium content (500–815 mg). Fried noodles and noodle soup contained the highest amount of sodium (>2000 mg sodium) based on per serving. Findings from the study on the food sodium content were also recorded into the Malaysian Food Composition Database.

Conclusion from the study was there is a significant concentration of sodium in the street foods of Malaysia and the public should be well informed of the sodium content to help reduce the sodium consumption in Malaysia and subsequently reduce the prevalence of non-communicable diseases.

References: Haron H, Zainal Arifen ZN, Shahar S, Mohamad H, Mohd Yazid SFZ, Michael V, Abeyasinghe R, Taketo T, Trieu K. Street Food in Malaysia: What Are the Sodium Levels? Foods. 2022 Nov 24;11(23):3791. doi: 10.3390/foods11233791. PMID: 36496599; PMCID: PMC9739403.