I love Chinese food. But is it a healthy choice?

Chinese food is not only full of delicious flavours – it can be a healthy option too. If you're eating in a Chinese restaurant, buying from a takeaway or cooking at home, remember to go for lower-fat options.

You could choose dishes such as steamed fish, chicken chop suey and Szechwan prawns. Lower-fat options include anything boiled or steamed, such as steamed fish and plain rather than fried rice. And for a healthy choice, it's best to avoid anything in batter because these foods are high in fat.

Steaming rather than deep-fat frying really cuts down on fat. Traditionally, Chinese food was cooked in small bamboo steamers, but it's easy to steam food if you're cooking at home. If you haven't got a steamer, try putting the food in a sieve over a pan of boiling water. The great thing about steaming is that you don't need to add any fat, and steamed vegetables keep their natural flavour and nutrients.

Stir-frying, another traditional Chinese cooking method, can also be a healthy way to cook. Ideally you should use a wok, but any large pan will do. You only need to use a very small amount of oil and the food cooks quickly. This means the food is low in added fat and it retains more nutrients because the cooking time is shorter. So, if you're cooking up your own stir-fry, you'll end up with a meal that's tasty, nutritious, ready quickly, and you'll only have one pan to wash!

Stir-fries typically contain a good selection of vegetables and a moderate amount of lean meat or other protein, and they're usually served with a large portion of rice or noodles – which is a great combination for a healthy diet.

A healthy balanced meal should be based around starchy foods, so for a Chinese meal choose foods such as rice, noodles, dumplings, plain and vegetable buns, and go for wholemeal or wholegrain versions whenever possible. These foods are filling, but they're not fattening unless they're cooked with oil, or you add fatty spreads and sauces to them. So choose boiled or steamed versions instead of frying, if possible.

We should be eating lots of fruit and vegetables. The aim is to have at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables each day. So choose from the following Chinese delights: bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, chinese cabbage/greens such as pak choi, water chestnuts, baby corn, exotic varieties of mushrooms and onions, aubergine, lychees, mandarins, melon, starfruit, and the list goes on.

We need to eat moderate amounts of protein such as duck, chicken, squid, prawns, bean curd (tofu), eggs and nuts. For a healthy choice, go for the lower-fat versions whenever possible. Choose lean meat, trim off any excess fat and skim the fat off the top of meat soups.

We should also have moderate amounts of milk and dairy foods, but these foods don't feature heavily in traditional Chinese cuisine, so you could choose fortified soya or rice milk, fish where you eat the bones, green leafy vegetables and tofu as alternative sources of calcium.

Only eat foods containing fat and/or sugar sparingly. So, when you're cooking, use as little oil as possible. Instead of sugary desserts or snacks try porridge, noodles, steamed dumplings and fruit. Drink milk, water, herbal teas and fruit juice instead of sugary drinks. And why not try a pot of jasmine tea after your meal and some lychees for dessert?

Chinese seasonings and sauces make food tasty but they're high in salt, so only use these in moderation:

hoisin (barbecue) sauce

plum sauce

black/yellow bean sauces

soy/oyster/fish sauces

You could try these flavourings instead: pepper, ginger, garlic, five-spice powder (star anise, fennel, clove, cinnamon, peppercorns).

Also, you may have heard that some soy sauces contain unhealthy processing chemicals. But levels of these chemicals (called 3-MCPD) are coming down. In fact, when the Agency checked samples of soy sauce in 2001, nearly a quarter had 'higher than acceptable' levels, but only 6% did in 2002. This is because more and more companies have recognised the problem and are working to avoid it. Even at these higher levels, you would need to have a lot of soy sauce with higher than acceptable levels of these chemicals, and eat it regularly for many years for there to be a health risk from the chemicals.

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If I swallowed a hair in my food, would it make me ill?

While it's not very pleasant to find a hair in your food, it's unlikely to do you any harm. However, it's possible that a hair might be carrying bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus. Even this isn't usually a problem, unless ready-to-eat food is kept at room temperature for too long (more than an hour or two). In this case the bacteria can multiply and produce a toxin that causes diarrhoea and vomiting.

Certainly it's good hygiene practice for staff preparing or serving food to keep long hair tied back and to wear a hat or hairnet, but these aren't legal requirements.

If you do find a hair in your food, tell the manager of the café or restaurant. Although the hair itself usually isn't dangerous, this could be a sign of inadequate hygiene standards.

Is it against the law to serve cheese at room temperature?

It's not against the law to serve cheese at room temperature. But there are restrictions on how long foods that need to be chilled can be kept out of the fridge, and this includes most cheeses.

Chilled foods must be kept at or below 8°C. However, the law does allow these foods to be left at room temperature for limited periods while they're being served or when they're on display for sale. The temperature of chilled foods can exceed 8°C for up to four hours, but this is only permitted once for each batch of food.

So if a restaurant takes some cheese out of the fridge and leaves it standing at room temperature and a customer doesn't order the cheese within four hours, then the restaurant would need to throw the cheese away or chill it until final use.

What are the healthier choices for lunch when I'm at work?

Whether you buy your lunch from a sandwich shop, café, supermarket or work canteen, or make your own, the good news is that there are plenty of healthy lunch options available.

At the sandwich shop:

• choose brown or wholemeal bread in thick slices or rolls, if available
• go for a sandwich that contains salad and ask for extra, if you can
• if the sandwich is made to order, you could ask for no butter, spread or mayonnaise, or just a small amount
• if you do have mayonnaise, ask for a low-fat variety, if available

Low-fat sandwich fillings include lean meats such as ham, beef and turkey, chicken without the skin, tuna, hard-boiled egg, cottage cheese and low-fat cream cheese. Many hard cheeses are high in fat, but Edam, Emmental, Gruyère and mozzarella are lower-fat options.

Baked potatoes are another good lunchtime choice, but it's better to leave out the butter, or just have a tiny bit. Healthy fillings include baked beans, cottage cheese and ratatouille. Try to steer clear of ready-mixed fillings that contain lots of mayonnaise because these can be high in fat.

If you work in an office, it's tempting to snack during those long afternoons at your desk. And this is often when people reach for fatty and sugary foods, such as biscuits, crisps and chocolate. If you're prone to snack attacks, try stocking up on some healthier choices such as fresh fruit, a handful of dried fruit, currant buns without icing, scones, fruit loaf or a low-fat yogurt.

My family is originally from Pakistan and we eat lots of traditional food. My GP has told me to reduce the amount of saturated fat I eat. How can I do this?

The traditional Pakistani diet can be very healthy because it often contains plenty of vegetables, starchy foods such as rice and bread, and good sources of protein such as meat, fish, beans and pulses.

Some Pakistani (and Indian) dishes can be high in saturated fat, but you can reduce this by making some simple changes to your diet and the way you cook. And this will be good for the health of the whole family.

Eating too much saturated fat can raise levels of cholesterol in our blood, which increases the chance of developing heart disease. Cutting down on fat will also help you maintain a healthy weight.

Foods that are high in saturated fat include ghee, butter, hard margarine, palm oil, coconut oil, coconut cream, hard cheese, fatty meat, sausages and cakes.

One of the easiest changes you can make is to cut down on the amount of ghee or oil you use when cooking. Use a spoon to measure, so you know how much you're using. Instead of ghee, try to use rapeseed, sunflower or olive oil, which are high in unsaturated fat. This will lower the amount of saturated fat in the dish without affecting the taste.

Here are some other ways to cut down on saturated fat:

• Choose lean cuts of meat and chicken without skin.
• Use semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, rather than full-fat, condensed or evaporated milk.
• Choose low-fat yoghurt and lower-fat hard cheese.
• Cut down on deep-fried snacks such as pakoras, samosas and bhajis.
• Cut down on sweets, desserts and chocolates.
• Stick to dry or tomato based curries, rather than dishes with rich or creamy sauces.

We need starchy foods for energy, so eat plenty of bread, rice, pasta and potatoes, choosing brown or wholemeal varieties when you can. Chapattis are a good choice because they're lower in fat than paratha or naan.

And finally, don't forget to eat plenty of fruit and vegetables – at least five portions a day.