Low Sodium Fast Food, Ranked

Salt is the nutrient fast food is worst on, and the one menus say least about. These are the 444 single servings we hold sodium figures for at 13 chains, least first. The daily limit is 2,300 mg; the median item here is 1,010 mg, so a typical fast food meal is about 44% of a day’s salt before anything else you eat.

32 Fl Oz Tractor Organic Watermelon Limeade — 10 mg

Chipotle, 330 calories, $3.50. That is 0% of the daily limit, against 44% for the median item on this page.

444items with published sodium

13chains

1,010 mgmedian item

8over a whole day's limit

The 25 lowest

#	Item	Chain	Sodium	Share of a day	Cal	Price
1	32 Fl Oz Tractor Organic Watermelon Limeade	Chipotle	10 mg	0%	330	$3.50
2	Plain Baked Potato	Wendy's	40 mg	2%	270	$2.89
3	20 Ounce Crush Orange	Papa John's	75 mg	3%	300	$2.79
4	Large Mello Yello	Burger King	80 mg	3%	280	$3.19
5	Berry Parfait W/ Granola	Chick-fil-A	85 mg	4%	270	$4.95
6	Berry Parfait	Chick-fil-A	85 mg	4%	270	—
7	Fruit & Maple Oatmeal	McDonald's	150 mg	7%	320	—
8	Frosted Mello Yello®	Chick-fil-A	160 mg	7%	320	—
9	Strawberry Cupcake Cup	Popeyes	160 mg	7%	350	$3.49
10	Large Hawaiian Punch	Popeyes	180 mg	8%	620	$3.49
11	Strawberry Vanilla Frosty Swirl™	Wendy's	220 mg	10%	430	$1.69
12	Medium Strawberry Vanilla Frosty Swirl™	Wendy's	220 mg	10%	430	$3.69
13	Strawberry Chocolate Frosty Swirl™	Wendy's	220 mg	10%	430	$1.69
14	Medium Strawberry Chocolate Frosty Swirl™	Wendy's	220 mg	10%	430	$3.69
15	Medium Classic Chocolate Frosty®	Wendy's	230 mg	10%	390	$3.19
16	Classic Chocolate Frosty®	Wendy's	230 mg	10%	390	$2.49
17	Vanilla Frosty®	Wendy's	230 mg	10%	390	$2.49
18	Medium Vanilla Frosty®	Wendy's	230 mg	10%	390	$3.19
19	2 Liter Crush Orange	Papa John's	250 mg	11%	1010	$3.89
20	Nachos	Taco Bell	250 mg	11%	280	—
21	Caramel Apple Empanada	Taco Bell	254 mg	11%	290	$2.99
22	Large Strawberry Chocolate Frosty Swirl™	Wendy's	260 mg	11%	530	$3.99
23	Breakfast Waffle	Chick-fil-A	270 mg	12%	320	$1.65
24	Large Strawberry Vanilla Frosty Swirl™	Wendy's	270 mg	12%	530	$3.99
25	Large Classic Chocolate Frosty®	Wendy's	290 mg	13%	510	$3.69

Least salt for the size of the meal

A small item is low in sodium by being small. Per 100 calories the order changes, and this is the ranking to use if you want a meal rather than a snack.

Item	Chain	Sodium per 100 cal	Sodium	Cal
32 Fl Oz Tractor Organic Watermelon Limeade	Chipotle	3 mg	10 mg	330
Plain Baked Potato	Wendy's	15 mg	40 mg	270
2 Liter Crush Orange	Papa John's	25 mg	250 mg	1010
20 Ounce Crush Orange	Papa John's	25 mg	75 mg	300
Large Mello Yello	Burger King	29 mg	80 mg	280
Large Hawaiian Punch	Popeyes	29 mg	180 mg	620
Berry Parfait W/ Granola	Chick-fil-A	31 mg	85 mg	270
Berry Parfait	Chick-fil-A	31 mg	85 mg	270
Strawberry Cupcake Cup	Popeyes	46 mg	160 mg	350
Fruit & Maple Oatmeal	McDonald's	47 mg	150 mg	320
Large Strawberry Chocolate Frosty Swirl™	Wendy's	49 mg	260 mg	530
Frosted Mello Yello®	Chick-fil-A	50 mg	160 mg	320
Large Strawberry Vanilla Frosty Swirl™	Wendy's	51 mg	270 mg	530
Strawberry Vanilla Frosty Swirl™	Wendy's	51 mg	220 mg	430
Medium Strawberry Vanilla Frosty Swirl™	Wendy's	51 mg	220 mg	430
Strawberry Chocolate Frosty Swirl™	Wendy's	51 mg	220 mg	430
Medium Strawberry Chocolate Frosty Swirl™	Wendy's	51 mg	220 mg	430
Large Classic Chocolate Frosty®	Wendy's	57 mg	290 mg	510
Chocolate Milkshake	Chick-fil-A	58 mg	350 mg	600
Large Vanilla Frosty®	Wendy's	59 mg	300 mg	510

And the saltiest

The other end, because it is the more useful warning: 8 of these 444 items carry more sodium in one serving than a whole day is supposed to contain.

Item	Chain	Sodium	Share of a day	Cal
10 Inch Bacon Cheesesticks	Papa John's	4,160 mg	181%	1760
12 Inch Original Cheesesticks	Papa John's	4,160 mg	181%	1760
10 Inch Original Cheesesticks	Papa John's	3,360 mg	146%	1440
Steak & Mushroom Oven-Toasted Sandwich	Papa John's	2,690 mg	117%	820
Philly Cheesesteak Oven-Toasted Sandwich	Papa John's	2,500 mg	109%	790
Honey BBQ Sandwich with Bacon and Cheese	Popeyes	2,470 mg	107%	790
Impossible™ Texas Whopper®	Burger King	2,370 mg	103%	810
Bacon King	Burger King	2,330 mg	101%	1260
Bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup	Chick-fil-A	2,280 mg	99%	320
Pretzel Bacon Pub Chicken Sandwich	Wendy's	2,280 mg	99%	860
Texas Double Whopper®	Burger King	2,200 mg	96%	1120
Cobb Salad W/ Nuggets	Chick-fil-A	2,180 mg	95%	830
Breakfast Burrito, Bacon	Wendy's	2,140 mg	93%	700
Texas Whopper®	Burger King	2,130 mg	93%	850
Breakfast Burrito, Sausage	Wendy's	2,120 mg	92%	820

How to read this

Sodium is the chain’s own published figure where it prints one, and USDA’s where it does not. The share of a day is against the FDA’s 2,300 mg limit for adults, which is a ceiling rather than a target. Drinks, sauces and sides are left out: they are low in sodium by being small, and a page that opened on a soft drink would not be answering the question.