'Don't eat too much dim sum'

Hong Kong - Translated, its name means "touch your heart", but a government report released on Wednesday has found that Hong Kong's national dish - dim sum - may actually stop your heart.

Some of the bite-sized nibbles are so high in fat and sodium that regular consumption could lead to obesity and severe cardio-vascular illnesses, a study by the city's Food and Environmental Hygiene Department found.

"Generally, steamed (items) are low in total fat while pan-fried and deep-fried dim sum ... are high in total fat," department consultant Ho Yuk-yin said in a statement.

"But some dim sum items prepared by steaming are also found to be high in total fat."

Dim sum has been eaten as a mid-morning meal for centuries. It generally consists of minced meat, vegetables or seafood steamed or fried in a pastry wrap and is a Hong Kong culinary staple.

But Ho said tests on 75 different dim sum varieties showed they could be tiny time bombs.

"Foods high in total fat are energy-dense and excessive intake may increase the risk of obesity," he said. "Excessive intake of saturated fat in the long run will increase the risk of having chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular diseases and certain types of cancer."

High sodium levels could also lead to high blood pressure, another risk factor in cardio-vascular illnesses, he added.

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