The new survey, which looked at 526 pie, mash and gravy products from supermarkets, large chain pubs, cafes and takeaways, showed that pie meals can be extremely high in salt. All the pie and mash pub meals looked at contained more than 3g, half the daily maximum, with five meals containing more than 6g. Top five saltiest pub pie meals: 1. Wetherspoon chicken & mushroom pie with chips/mash, gravy and peas (7.5g salt per meal) 2. Wetherspoon British beef and abbot ale pie with chips/mash, gravy and peas/vegetables (6.7g salt per meal) 3. Punch Taverns lamb & mint pie with mash, veg and gravy (6.5g salt per meal) 4. Punch Taverns steak & ale pie with mash, veg and gravy (6.3g salt per meal) 5. Hungry Horse Pubs beef & ale pie with mash, peas and gravy (6.18g salt per meal). CASH also found that the mash and gravy could be almost doubling the salt content of a meal. For instance while a lamb & mint pie from Punch Taverns contains 3.5g of salt alone, the mash and gravy add another three grams of salt to the meal. Further figures found that only five pub chains had nutritional information available online, with leading chains such as Punch Taverns, Young's, O'Neill's, Fuller's, Yates's and Ember Inn's failing to provide any information at all, meaning it is difficult to keep track of what you're eating when dining out. Katharine Jenner, nutritionist and campaign director of CASH, said: "Men need to reduce the salt in their diets but, although few would think of pie and mash as a healthy meal, many do not realise they could be exceeding their daily maximum of 6 grams salt in just one meal. "Just a few simple changes such as reading the labels in supermarkets or skipping the gravy in pub meals could help you stay within the healthy recommendations." Graham MacGregor, professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at The Wolfson Institute and Chairman of CASH, added: "With the food industry still putting so much salt in men's favourite foods, it is no wonder men are at risk of serious health problems such as stroke and heart attacks, the commonest causes of death and disability in the UK. "Cutting men's salt intake from the current 10g a day to the recommended maximum of 6g a day could reduce their risk of having a stroke by up to 20% and of having a heart attack by up to 12%." TIPS for eating pies with less salt: • Avoid pies with salty ingredients such as ham, bacon and cheese • When eating out, don't use all of the gravy as it will add unnecessary salt to your meal • When eating out, request a jacket potato instead of mash • For low salt recipes, download a Men's Recipe Booklet from www.actiononsalt.org.uk