U.S. Limits Urged For Salt In Processed Food
Salt, a staple in most food, could soon be regulated if the Institute of Medicine has its way.
In a new report, the institute, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, is calling on the Food and Drug Administration to set national standards for salt added to processed foods and prepared meals in an effort to reduce Americans’ consumption of sodium.
Salt consumption, long associated with increased risk of hypertension, heart disease and stroke, would be cut back gradually through a series of incremental reductions intended to help keep flavors consistent.
The new standards would set how much salt food manufacturers and restaurants could add to their products. The Institute of Medicine says that a ban on salt is not necessary but that regulation is, because decades of public education campaigns have failed to reduce Americans’ intake.
“For 40 years, we have known about the relationship between sodium and the development of hypertension and other life-threatening diseases, but we have had virtually no success in cutting back the salt in our diets,” said institute committee Chairwoman Jane Henney, professor of medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio.
“This report outlines strategies that will enable all of us to effectively lower our sodium consumption to healthy levels. Lowering sodium by the food industry in a stepwise, monitored fashion will minimize changes in flavor and still provide adequate amounts of this essential nutrient that are compatible with good health.”
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Article courtesy cnn.com