As is the case with other nanny state regulations, New York may be the first city in the nation to require restaurant items to have a warning label for sodium content.
The New York Heath Department is telling the Associated Press that “it will propose Wednesday that all chain restaurants add a symbol resembling a salt shaker on menus next to food products that contain more than the recommended daily limit of 2,300 milligrams of sodium, equal to about 1 teaspoon of salt.”
Back in February, I wrote about how the FDA was walking back their claims about sodium intake.
“The 2010 dietary guidelines had recommended those at risk for heart disease limit sodium to 1,500 milligrams. The new report said lowering to that amount can still be helpful for some. The new advice follows a 2013 report by the Institute of Medicine that said there is no good evidence that eating less than 2,300 milligrams a day of sodium offers benefits.”
It’s hard to trust anything the FDA has to say about “health” guidelines, they are always updating their recommendations when their junk science crumbles to pieces.
Nevertheless, New York City is ready to drop the hammer on salt.
Studies have found that the vast majority of dietary salt comes from processed and restaurant foods.
Average sodium consumption is about 3,400 milligrams of sodium each day. Only about one in 10 Americans meets the 1 teaspoon guideline.
Will seeing a little salt shaker on your restaurant menu keep you from order food with high levels sodium? Who knows, but if you care about your sodium intake, I’m going to guess you have a handle on what items are going to be overloaded with salt.
