Sodium Analysis in Fast Food Burgers Matthew Code, Justin Lee, Zach O’Kane and Ryan Buyting

Sodium Chloride Chemical Formula: NaCl Molar Mass: CAS Registry Number:

Health Benefits Helps regulate blood pressure and fluid volume Helps line blood vessels Helps carry nutrients to cells Aids in keeping calcium and other minerals soluble in the blood Helps regulate muscle spasms It plays a part in nerve stimulation by increasing conductivity in nerve cells for communication and information processing Plays an important role in maintaining the fluid balance of cells Necessary for the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach Clears mucous plugs and sticky phlegm in the lungs Helps regulate fluid balance when body temperature rises It is water and salt that energizes and activates our bodies

Risks of Ingesting Excess Salt Hypertension – Hypertension occurs when the water molecules in your blood expand, thus causing high blood pressure and blood volume which can lead to cardiovascular problems such as a heart attack, stroke, etc. Vascular Organ Failure – Hypertension could cause any vascular organ to shut down because too much salt within your blood vessels can cause clogging, which leads to the organs shutting down. Dehydration and Swelling – When you have too much salt in your blood vessels, your body, via a homeostasis action, wants to move water into the blood vessels to balance the high salt content. When you have too much water in your blood vessels you pee it out, leaving not enough in your tissues which is thus dehydration.

How to measure sodium in burgers? Grind up each of the individual burgers in a food processor. Take a measured amount of the grinded up burger and place it in a beaker and add a set amount of water. Stir the mixture and stick a sodium ion selective electrode (ISE) into it. Record the data

How ISE Works The ISE is a tool that is placed in a substance that contains sodium. When done so, it will ignore everything else and only measure the sodium content. The ISE is plugged into a computer and can transmit the data through a cord which can then be displayed on the screen.

ISE (Specific Instructions) Add 20mL of ISA [Ion Strength Adjuster (Fill half of a 100mL volumetric flask with flask with distilled water and add 214g, of regeant-grade ammonium “NH4Cl”. Under hood, add 270mL of concentrated ammonium hydroxide “NH4OH”)] per 1L of H2O. ISE Preparation: – Remove the rubber cap covering the electrode tip and the rubber sleeve covering the filling hole. – Fill the electrode with the included filling solution to a level just below the fill hole. – Connect the ISE to the ISE amplifier and insert the DIN connector of the ISE amplifier into the analog analog channel A or Bon the PASCO computer interface. – NOTE: All samples and standards should be the same temperature. A difference on 1°C can change your result by 2%.

Company Stated Sodium Contents Big Mac (M c Donalds) mg Baconator (Wendy’s) mg Whopper (Burger King) mg

Solubility of Sodium Chloride 40g/100ml 0.4g/1ml 400mg/1ml = Baconator: 1690mg/4.225ml Big Mac: 1020mg/2.55mL Whopper: 910mg/2.275ml

Citations Photos: – (n.d.). Bigmac. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from – (n.d.). Baconator. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from content/uploads/2010/11/baconator_dude25_400.jpghttp:// content/uploads/2010/11/baconator_dude25_400.jpg – (n.d.). Whopper. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from content/uploads/2010/11/whopper.jpghttp://coolcanucks.ca/wp- content/uploads/2010/11/whopper.jpg – (n.d.). Nacl. [Web Graphic]. Retrieved from – (n.d.). Ise. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from analysis/ion-selective-electrodes-ise htmlhttp:// analysis/ion-selective-electrodes-ise html – (n.d.). Table salt. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from hTI4BEe2Vsw/TYW9UIdnCkI/AAAAAAAABUg/WGJ8TtCGc1s/s1600/table salt.jpghttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/- hTI4BEe2Vsw/TYW9UIdnCkI/AAAAAAAABUg/WGJ8TtCGc1s/s1600/table salt.jpg – (n.d.). Giant burger. [Web Photo]. Retrieved from Y43s/S7UqodcKRgI/AAAAAAAAAAk/PDrlSD18_Pk/s1600/giant-burger.jpghttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5txbDT- Y43s/S7UqodcKRgI/AAAAAAAAAAk/PDrlSD18_Pk/s1600/giant-burger.jpg Articles: – ChemBlink. (2011). [Web log message]. Retrieved from – HubPages Inc. (2011). [Web log message]. Retrieved from of-Salthttp://len7288.hubpages.com/hub/Health-Benefits- of-Salt – Rundle, C. (2000, May 05). [Web log message]. Retrieved from – [Web log message]. (2008). Retrieved from – [Web log message]. Retrieved from