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| FDA To Regulate Salt |
| 2010-04-20 |
| The Food and Drug Administration is planning an unprecedented effort to gradually reduce the salt consumed each day by Americans, saying that less sodium in everything from soup to nuts would prevent thousands of deaths from hypertension and heart disease. The initiative, to be launched this year, would eventually lead to the first legal limits on the amount of salt allowed in food products. The government intends to work with the food industry and health experts to reduce sodium gradually over a period of years to adjust the American palate to a less salty diet, according to FDA sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the initiative had not been formally announced. Officials have not determined the salt limits. In a complicated undertaking, the FDA would analyze the salt in spaghetti sauces, breads and thousands of other products that make up the $600 billion food and beverage market, sources said. Working with food manufacturers, the government would set limits for salt in these categories, designed to gradually ratchet down sodium consumption. The changes would be calibrated so that consumers barely notice the modification. The legal limits would be open to public comment, but administration officials do not think they need additional authority from Congress. "This is a 10-year program," one source said. "This is not rolling off a log. We're talking about a comprehensive phase-down of a widely used ingredient. We're talking about embedded tastes in a whole generation of people." The FDA, which regulates most processed foods, would be joined in the effort by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees meat and poultry. Currently, manufacturers can use as much salt as they like in products because under federal standards, it falls into the category deemed "generally recognized as safe." Foodmakers are merely required to report the amount on nutrition labels. But for the past 30 years, health officials have grown increasingly alarmed as salt intake has increased with the explosion in processed foods and restaurant meals. Most adults consume about twice the government's daily recommended limit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Until now, the government has pushed the food industry to voluntarily reduce salt and tried to educate consumers about the dangers of excessive sodium. But in a study to be released Wednesday, an expert panel convened by the Institute of Medicine concludes that those measures have failed. The panel will recommend that the government take action, according to sources familiar with the findings. Although the specifics of the government's plans have not been made public, the food industry has been bracing for a federal initiative. "We're working on it voluntarily already," said Melissa Musiker, senior manager of science policy, nutrition and health at the Grocery Manufacturers Association. In recent months, Conagra, Pepsico, Kraft Foods, General Mills, Sara Lee and others have announced that they would reduce sodium in many of their products. Pepsico has developed a new shape for sodium chloride crystals that the company hopes will allow it to reduce salt by 25 percent in its Lay's Classic potato chips. Morton Satin, director for technical and regulatory affairs at the Salt Institute, which represents salt producers, said regulation "would be a disaster for the public." He said that the science regarding sodium is unclear and that consumption does not necessarily lead to health problems. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose |
| #26 Cleanup, aisle 26... |
| Posted by: mojo 2010-04-21 00:00 |
| #25 I hear ya Pappy, seeing as I live in CA. It's death by a thousand cuts, with no guarantee of a longer life - just greater control of our lives by the gummint. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2010-04-20 23:46 |
#24 But I'm not moderating in this instance. That'd be highlighted in gray.
I'm just commenting, same as any other Rantburg reader. | |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-04-20 23:06 |
| #23 No, I just get highly annoyed at sanctimonious lecturing. No, you resort to name calling when an opinion you don't agree with is offered. I know this from experience. Knock yourself out, moderator. |
| Posted by: Gomez Threter7450 2010-04-20 23:00 |
| #22 It's already a swirling, sucking pit of endless misery. Now it'll soon be a sugar-free, low salt, fat-free swirling, sucking pit of endless misery. And you'll get to live longer to experience it. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-04-20 22:59 |
| #21 My concern is that this may impact my lardo intake. Does lardo come under the "processed" definition? I'm afraid it might... and there is nothing on this Earth like pure pig fat cured in salt n spices. Without it, life would be a swirling, sucking pit of endless misery. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2010-04-20 22:53 |
| #20 I'd hate for you to be sucking up precious health resources You can suck this precious health resource... |
| Posted by: badanov 2010-04-20 22:38 |
| #19 No, I just get highly annoyed at sanctimonious lecturing. And if you don't like that, you can screw yourself. "Just remember, in all things moderation. Thanks." |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-04-20 22:31 |
| #18 And you're an asshole, Pappy. |
| Posted by: Gomez Threter7450 2010-04-20 22:20 |
| #17 So you can go ahead and salt your food until your heart explodes. Just make sure you go all the way, I'd hate for you to be sucking up precious health resources cause you only had a minor heart attack. Make sure it's massive. I'm surprised, AllahHateMe. You didn't pass around the collection plate after you stepped down from the pulpit, Reverend. And the "all things in moderation - thanks" was a nice, if insincere salve, after the health-freak vitrol. Throw a few comments about about gas-guzzling SUVs, and you'll be perfect. You self-righteous twit. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-04-20 21:19 |
| #16 next all they need is a regulation against overt stupidity? oops, wont work, Congress always exempts itself :( |
| Posted by: abu do you love 2010-04-20 19:43 |
| #15 less sodium in everything from soup to nuts would prevent thousands of deaths from hypertension and heart disease. Probably could use less sodium in processed foods. We can salt to tastes. Not such a big deal except currently, Washington thinks everything should be given to us through the central government. That doesn't go down so good with Americans since the government don't have a very good track record for success. "1984" has come a little bit late but the grind of the Nanny State is here. Americans don't like the loss of freedoms regardless of the party who imposing them. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2010-04-20 19:41 |
| #14 I don't eat much salt, but the government can take what little I do eat from my cold, dead hands. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2010-04-20 19:39 |
| #13 Allah, workout in the heat for a summer and you'll learn to appreciate all that salt on your almonds, pretzels and peanut shells. Moderation for one person is highly restrictive for another. Within reason, of course - all that 'overly processed shit' has it's use in the right applications. Moreover, do you honestly think that manufacturers use sodium in your lunch meat or tv dinner for no reason other than to give people heart attacks? There's a reason it's there and the products will cost more when it's removed. Through a blatant overstep of consitutional authority. Which is the real issue here. And because I like your idea, I'll be the first to say it and mean it. THEY'LL PRY MY SALT FROM MY COLD, DEAD HANDS! |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2010-04-20 18:55 |
| #12 Redd Foxx often mentioned a band he once played in: "Suckin' Salt". |
| Posted by: borgboy 2010-04-20 18:50 |
| #11 Just the beginning. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2010-04-20 18:49 |
| #10 This is the start of a Nanny state. Sure it might be processed foods now. What about tomorrow or when people start 'salting' their food excessively? The problem I have with this is that it is not the FDA's business to regulate salt in anything. Where in the constitution is the Federal government given that power? What will they regulate next? I think Sugar is high on the list. Fibre - you *must* eat more fibre! Bad cholesterol (so much for the egg industry- y'all must eat that fake-egg stuff - and that won't have salt in it either....). |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2010-04-20 17:12 |
| #9 Some of the comments on this are quite funny. First, they are talking about prepared foods. You know, that nasty, overly processed shit that people put in their bodies day in and day out. McD's, microwave meals, Chef Boyardee that kind of crap. Second, people in the US consume entirely too much sodium, and that is a fact. Next thing you know one of you guys will say, 'they'll take my salt from my cold dead hands!' LOL. Seriously people, get a fucking grip. Not to mention the fact they say nothing of taking salt out of the stores. So you can go ahead and salt your food until your heart explodes. Just make sure you go all the way, I'd hate for you to be sucking up precious health resources cause you only had a minor heart attack. Make sure it's massive. With or with out the healthcare take over, health care costs are socialized, hell, that's what insurance is! Just remember, in all things moderation. Thanks. |
| Posted by: AllahHateMe 2010-04-20 16:46 |
| #8 Sodium -> muscular contraction Potassium -> muscular relaxation Both are necessary for bodily function. |
| Posted by: mojo 2010-04-20 12:28 |
| #7 "Potassium" ends in an "um," like other chemicals do. It's too dangerous for you to be allowed to take it. |
| Posted by: Fred 2010-04-20 12:22 |
| #6 It'll be so great when everyone who works in the heat or exercises has to purchase sodium supplements. Thanks Big Brother. Also, when you restrict sodium, please be sure to explain to everyone that a low sodium level puts additional demands on potassium, so people can at least make sure they have enough K instead of being short on both. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2010-04-20 11:12 |
| #5 ...except we're all living longer than before. If you factor out stupid adolescent and young adult male self termination behaviors, the 'average' figures would be even higher. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-04-20 10:32 |
| #4 The problem is salt, fats, sugar, and just about everything else is processed and no one cooks real food anymore. Unrefined salt adds lots of trace minerals, real butter and cream leave one feeling satisfied, and add whole grains and unrefined sugar with stevia, and you won't crave snacks or junk food. The food processing industry must be in cahoots with the pharmaceuticals--we are being poisoned and now they have a boondoggle bill to tax us into oblivion to pay for it all. |
| Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091 2010-04-20 09:37 |
| #3 I'll tell ya what goes wrong. Everyone slowly and imperceptibly starts eating more because although they don't know why, they eat their meals but still feel hungry because they're craving salt. I mean, they've been working on getting all the fats and transfats and stuff out of food, replacing the butter with synthetics, but everyone seems to be more fat than when they began the effort. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-04-20 09:19 |
| #2 What could possibly go wrong? |
| Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats 2010-04-20 08:55 |
| #1 ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ! They go too far. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2010-04-20 07:51 |