By Teresa Esquivel, Managing Editor
Just over a half teaspoon of salt gives most Americans all the sodium their bodies need for the day. Any more than this 1,500 mg of sodium puts them at risk for high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), Dallas, Americans consume an average of 3,436 mg of sodium per day, more than double the recommendation.
In April of this year, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report on “Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake in the United States,” the result of a congressional request on how to bring sodium intake in line with recommendations in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. One of the key strategies, IOM concluded, is for FDA to place regulatory limits on the use of salt as an additive in foods and beverages.
Consumers have failed to cut consumption on their own despite efforts by health organizations to educate them on the harmful health effects of too much sodium. The report also notes that the food industry’s voluntary efforts to cut sodium in their products has made little difference in overall sodium consumption. If FDA were to use its authority and gradually place maximum allowable amounts of sodium in food and beverage products, IOM concluded, it would “level the playing field” for food manufacturers and would allow consumers to grow used to the flavor of lower-sodium foods.
In response, FDA, a sponsor of the IOM report, has only said that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will form an interagency working group on sodium.
The Salt Institute, Alexandria, VA, however, released a statement condemning the report’s conclusions, saying that the call for “mandatory sodium reduction by restaurants, food manufacturers and foodservice suppliers is reckless and flawed.” Noting that salt is an essential nutrient—a fact AHA, IOM and other health organizations also acknowledge—The Salt Institute is calling on HHS to conduct unbiased clinical trials on the effects of a low-sodium diet before making “human guinea pigs” out of the entire population. Other food industry groups, including the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the American Meat Institute and the Institute of Food Technologists, voiced support of IOM’s goal of reducing sodium consumption and pledged their members will continue developing reduced-sodium products.
Not long after the IOM report was released, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene announced that 16 food manufacturers and restaurant chains had thus far committed to salt-reduction targets as outlined in the National Salt Reduction Initiative, a partnership of 18 national health organizations and 30 cities and states, coordinated by New York City. Kraft Foods, for example, announced its goal of reducing sodium across its North American portfolio by an average of 10% by 2012.
