They originally began the war against trans fats, now New York City Health Department is calling for restaurants and food companies to reduce their use of salt.
Director of the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Control Program, Dr. Sonia Angell said:
“Salt is a huge problem in our diets. The majority of us consume too much salt, which increases blood pressure and puts us at risk for heart attack and stroke.
If salt is reduced gradually, we won’t notice a difference in our palate. Our palate will adjust and we’ll enjoy foods as much as we do now.”
Their goal is for salt in restaurant and packing foods to be reduced gradually by 25 percent over five years, resulting in a decrease of 20 percent. The average American consumes about 3,400 to 3,500 milligrams of sodium a day, but only needs about 1,500.
“Consumers can always add salt to food, but they can’t take it out,” added Dr. Thomas Farley, NYC’s ‘s health commissioner. “If we can reduce the sodium levels in packaged and restaurant foods, we will give consumers more choice about the amount of salt they eat and reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke in the process.”
This may be difficult to get businesses to agree, but Subway is already on board!
“We have been looking at ways to reduce sodium in all of our products,” said Subway spokesman, Kevin Kane. “This seemed like an extension of what we were doing already.”
Although Campbell Soup Company, which has quadrupled the number of its low sodium products in the past five years, is not in favor because of the quick turnaround.
“We feel really strongly that we share the same goal in reducing sodium,” said Campbell spokeswoman Julie Mandel Sloves. “However, we think the targets and time frame recommended are quite aggressive.”
We’ll see if they get their wish. America will be all the better for it!