Do restaurants comply with reduced salt requests from consumers ordering on meal delivery apps?

Background: Chinese urban residents consume more salt from meals prepared outside home than in the past. The purpose of this study is to understand Chinese consumer demand for salt reduction as expressed through their orders on meal delivery apps (MDAs), restaurants' willingness to promote salt reduction, and the extent to which restaurants comply with reduced salt requests.

Methods: We analyzed consumer comments extracted from 718 restaurants on a Chinese MDA called ELEME for orders made in the July-December 2020 timeframe.