New York Seeks National Effort to Curtail Salt Use

[onehandle]

Source: New York Times

First New York City required restaurants to cut out trans fat. Then it made restaurant chains post calorie counts on their menus. Now it wants to protect people from another health scourge: salt.

On Monday, the Bloomberg administration plans to unveil a broad new health initiative aimed at encouraging food manufacturers and restaurant chains across the country to curtail the amount of salt in their products.

The plan, for which the city claims support from health agencies in other cities and states, sets a goal of reducing the amount of salt in packaged and restaurant food by 25 percent over the next five years.

Public health experts say that would reduce the incidence of high blood pressure and should help prevent some of the strokes and heart attacks associated with that condition. The plan is voluntary for food companies and involves no legislation. It allows companies to cut salt gradually over five years so the change is not so noticeable to consumers.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/11/business/11salt.html

---

Cue the cries of 'nanny state.' I applaud NYC's efforts to encourage healthy habits.

[liberal N proud]

1. I do not add salt to anything

I figure that there is already too much salt in my diet.

[Ignis]

29. I do the reverse:

I buy unsalted products and salt the hell out of them once they reach the table. :D

[Haole Girl]

2. Good

:thumbsup:

[aquart]

3. I cut out salt. Started to pass out.

Salt is my friend.

[SPedigrees]

19. Salt is an essential mineral. The question is one of moderation.

The trace amount of iodine in iodized salt is essential as well.

[DainBramaged]

4. I applaud this effort, however, NYC IS the nanny capitol of the US

I do not understand why Bloomberg waited 8 years to discover this.........and unfortunately in too many NYC restaurants, without the salt, the food would suck.

[No Elephants]

54. Apparently many love living in nanny heaven. NYC real estate is among the priciest in

the nation. Or maybe it's just the great restaurants in NYC people want to live among.

As far as restaurants, this program seems to be for manufacturers of prepared foods and is totally voluntary on the part of the manufacturers. It just tries to "coax" them, to quote Bloomberg.

If successful, it would have given people like my mom more of a choice. As it was, she had to cook everyting from scratch or eat prepared foods that probably had a jag of salt. And, as an older woman working in a factory and living by herself, that was a tough choice. (ILGWU, btw). She died of high blood pressure before her time.

[NYC_SKP]

5. How about MSG and HFCS?

It's become very hard to avoid, especially, High Fructose Corn Syrup in foods.

[SPedigrees]

18. AMEN to that, most especially the HFCS.

We both lost 20 lbs in a year without any changes in exercise or food portions. The sole change we made was to curtail all purchases of food items containing high fructose corn syrup. Nasty stuff!

On edit, the artificial sweeteners (aspertame, splenda, etc) are just as bad.

[dkhbrit]

35. Re. HFCS

"We both lost 20 lbs in a year without any changes in exercise or food portions. The sole change we made was to curtail all purchases of food items containing high fructose corn syrup. Nasty stuff!

On edit, the artificial sweeteners (aspertame, splenda, etc) are just as bad."

HFCS is no worse than any other sugar. Eat too many calories and you gain weight. There is as much sugar in OJ as there is in most sodas.

Why do you refer to HFCS as 'Nasty stuff?"

And why are high intensity sweteners 'just as bad' ?

[SPedigrees]

48. HFCS is not a sugar (except in the broadest sense of the word.)

HFCS (from corn) is fructose. Sugar (from sugar cane or sugar beets and also maple sugar) is sucrose.

Sucrose and fructose are not remotely the same. Sucrose causes spikes in insulin, while fructose does not affect insulin levels. They are chemically completely different.

----There is as much sugar in OJ as there is in most sodas.----

There is no sugar in either. Both contain HFCS along with most ketchups, bread, mayonaise, jellies & jams.. the list goes on for miles.

When we cut HFCS out of our diets we substituted items that contain pure cane sugar. We lost weight. So no, HFCS and sugar are not equivilent.

----Why do you refer to HFCS as 'Nasty stuff?" And why are high intensity sweteners 'just as bad' ? ----

I'm not your search monkey; much has been written and reported about the suspected health dangers of HFCS, but if by "high intensity" you mean artificial, it is because they are carcinogens. One of the most heavily used artificial sweetener, I think aspartame, was developed and patented by Mansanto Corp. That last pretty much speaks to the nature of the product. Nothing about the United States GM corn industry is wholesome or healthy.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

76. Splenda is bad stuff too. It has chlorine in it.

[shanti]

52. give stevia a try

it's naturally sweet, although still a bit pricey. great for diabetics too.

[SPedigrees]

71. Not for me thanks. I'm sticking with plain old sugar. nt

[Abq_Sarah]

26. That would cause problems

With the "Corn Lobby", which in turn would lead to a decrease in political donations. Unfortunately, they have a hell of a lot more pull in Washington than individual citizens.

[SPedigrees]

49. Agreed. It will drag on for years before a case can be made

against HFCS, similar to how long it took to prove the dangers of tobacco and to turn public opinion against cigarettes.

[boppers]

6. Regional arrogance FAIL.

Yeah, places like New York, where people don't even hit sweating temperatures for most of the year, should totally set standards for places like Arizona and New Mexico, where salt intake has to be *higher* because salt is constantly lost in sweat.

[SPedigrees]

20. Good point. nt

[ThatPoetGuy]

7. It's a good idea.

Trying to keep up with a high blood pressure diet is madness. I remember asking to see the sodium content for the bagels at a bagel shop; one bagel, with nothing on it, provided more than 40% of my daily limit for sodium.

A small can of "low-sodium" soup provides more than 30%.

Pretty much the only way to follow the public health recommendations is to make everything you eat from scratch.

[unabelladonna]

8. absurd

bloomberg is a clown. what's next after salt is banfried foods? it's a very slippery slope.ned? white bread? pastrami?

[Dappleganger]

15. Calling out the Salt Police...

next thing you know he'll go after white sugar and doughnuts.

[No Elephants]

57. Usually, before police come into play, thee is a law. This is a totally voluntary program.

[No Elephants]

56. Why are you talking about a ban? The program is totally voluntary and does not

even seek a ban, only to encourage a 25% reduction of salt in manufactured foods. They usually contain inordinate amounts of salt, but, if 75% of that inordinate amount would be too little for you, you could use a salt shaker on your canned peas.

[krispos42]

9. Gee, I can't imagine why he didn't annouce this 10 weeks ago...

:eyes:

[golfguru]

10. Salt is worse for you than...

moderate consumption of alcohol, Coffee, Tea, etc etc.
Sugar is not bad in any form unless you are diabetic or obese.


For people who tend to have higher than normal Blood Pressure (HBP), salt is a slow
poison. Salt is especially bad during winter months when we do not lose much salt thru sweat.

HBP will cause slow damage to you heart, kidneys, and arteries.

If you are young and have normal blood pressure, salt is no problem.

[Robb]

22. Or it you are old and have normal blood pressure.

Salt is bad for some people. Necessary for others. And benign in moderation for the majority.

[Mojorabbit]

11. I'll bite

and cry nanny state. This is the most absurd thing I have read in ages. I can see limiting it in prepackaged foods but not in restaurants. That salt intake directly causes hypertension has been controversial for years. This year that theory is in again. Next year it may be out. Meh.

[No Elephants]

58. The program is voluntary and does not seem to apply to restuarants.

As best I can tell, the voluntary program would deal with only to manufacturers of prepared foods. The only reference in the article to restaurants that I saw was historical background, about the ban a few years back on trans fats.

[SoapBox]

12. Yes, Yes, Yes!

This should be done on a national basis...These restaurants and food manufactures are killing us with the sodium content.

Several years ago, I started reading labels more closely. It's SHOCKING how much sodium is in prepared food. Here in California, there is now required breakdowns in restaurants...it's enough to make you lose your appetite.

BUT...do I have an urge for a burger and fries, every so often? You bet...but, I only eat out maybe once every two weeks and cook at home the rest of the time.

[naaman fletcher]

13. looks like ill be adding 25% more salt to everything

[No Elephants]

59. Unlikely. Please see Reply 58.

[Dappleganger]

14. As someone who loves to cook, this is BS.

But I do think that most people using crappy table salt over-season their food because their taste buds stay in saline shock. Most people's salt intake is going to come from pre-packaged food as well.

BTW, we have a salt crock filled w/kosher next to the stove which is used LIBERALLY. :D

[No Elephants]

60. Why is it bs? Please see Replies 54 and 7 and also 58.

I have salt next to my sink and next to my stove, but I am thoughtful when I use it, especially because of my mom. And I caringly recommend that to you and yours. But, you could add as much as you want to your canned corn no matter what happens with this program.

I cannot understand why so many people on this thread are flipping out so much over a purely voluntary program that would seek only to "coax" manufacturers of prepared foods into reducing salt by 25%.

:shrug:

[peacetalksforall]

16. It's nice that someone cares. But, what about monosodium glutamate and all the other glutamates.

They are also in many, many packaged foods. It causes brain problems.

Doesn't Bloomberg care about the MSG which causes nearly instant reactions for some people or results after a few hours - unlike five years.

Perhaps that Glutamate Association has the FDA bought and paid for.

Where is the list of names of Congresspeople who take money and from which entities?

[peacetalksforall]

17. Glutamate Association. Real all about it.

http://www.truthinlabeling.org/WhoRuns.html

This article is rather tame, but it names names (not the Congresspeople).

Don't see MSG on the label - there are 40+ other elements that are the same thing. Watch out for the word Hydrolyzed. To start.

Do you know that some canneries put MSG/glutamates in a can of tuna?

Tuna - not tasty enough. Not salty enough. Think about it.

MSG/glutamates - designed to make sweet things taste sweeter and a salty things to taste saltier.

Ketsup, candy, .................... gravy, salad dressing ................... soup boullion .............meat fish.

It doesn't end.

Restaurant says they don't use MSG? Means they don't add it. But the ingredients they use are loaded down with it. Read their can, bottle, celophane package labels?

[hayu_lol]

21. We have taken so much out of our food...

that there is no taste left today.

For those born before the war, nothing tastes like the foods available to us while we were growing up.

None of us will live forever...would be nice to have food that we could taste.

This is more BS.

[No Elephants]

61. Why is a voluntary program for manufacturers of prepared foods bs?

A voluntary program is not going to get 100% compliance. And it's only a 25% reduction anyway.

But, if it gets any compliance at all, it would give people who nned low salt more choices, while also leaving you plenty of choices. Besides, you could always use your salt shaker as much as you want with lower sodium prepared foods.

[pipoman]

23. Salt is a necessary part of our diet

We have only 4 taste receptor areas on our tongue, one of them being salt.



Bloominidiot should concentrate on running his city and stay off of my dinner plate (and out of my life for that matter, he ain't my mayor...I wouldn't vote for him for sanitation director). People who need to be on reduced sodium can adjust their diet themselves.

[muriel_volestrangler]

33. The 'tongue map' is more or less a myth

We can detect 5 tastes ( the 4 in that 'map', plus glutamate/umami), and detect all of them all over the tongue.

In 1974, a scientist named Virginia Collings re-examined Hanig's work and agreed with his main point: There were variations in sensitivity to the four basic tastes around the tongue. (Wineglass makers rejoiced.) But the variations were small and insignificant. (Wineglass makers ignored this part.) Collings found that all tastes can be detected anywhere there are taste receptors—around the tongue, on the soft palate at back roof of the mouth, and even in the epiglottis, the flap that blocks food from the windpipe.

Later research has revealed that taste bud seems to contain 50 to 100 receptors for each taste. The degree of variation is still debated, but the kindest way to describe the tongue map is an oversimplification. Why textbooks continue to print the tongue map is the real mystery now.

http://www.livescience.com/health/060829_bad_tongue.html

[No Elephants]

62. Point is, most of us need lower sodium. And god forbid anyone but

you gets a choice about their canned corn, right? Please see Replies 54 and 7.

[flamin lib]

24. Be careful what you ask for.

Salt is a powerful preservative. If you shop in ethnic grocery stores you'll find the only ingredients listed on the canned veggies are "veggie, water, salt." Take the salt out and replace it higher quantities of BHA, BTH and lots of other alphabet.

[No Elephants]

65. A voluntary program, attempting to encourage a 25% reduction.

No one is talking about removing all of the salt.

[LiberalFighter]

25. Mfgs and restaurants should not put more salt than is needed.

And the customer apply the salt as they need themselves.

[WriteDown]

30. Very different applying salt and spices in general to a dish that is just done cooking...

than one that has to travel to the table. Any good chef knows you have to hit it literally right as it leaves the pan and many times before it even cooks as well to form the proper crust.

[No Elephants]

53. Isn't the article about manufacturers of prepared foods?

The only reference I saw to restaurants was historical--background on the trans fat ban.

And it's completely voluntary, anyway.

[WriteDown]

75. I was just talking about the posters suggestion that salt should be added at the table...

I was pointing out that cooking isn't quite that simple.

[slampoet]

27. I thought this was about Plowing Roads.

But i guess nobody cares about the bad effects of salt unless it directly affects a human.

[hedgehog]

45. Same here. Salt gets used because it's supposed to be cheap,

but the labor and equipment to spread it are the bulk of the initial costs. That is, it wouldn't cost that much more to replace the salt. On the other hand, there would be tremendous savings due to less damage to the roadbed, water table, roadside plantings and car bodies.

[slampoet]

47. In Rhode Island the plow are all privately owned. So the operators..........

....have decided that they can get away with plowing with their blades 2-3 inches above the road surface. And since the state provides the salt, the trucks just salt over this 2-3 inches of snow turning it instantly into a couple inches of pure ice.

I realized this when i noticed that the plow trucks here don't make sparks against the road like they do everywhere else.

Rhode Island would almost never need road salt if they would Man Up and buy their own plow trucks. Instead the corrupt politicians just give sweetheart deals to their cronies.

We just had a guy go to jail over kickbacks with plow drivers.

[SPedigrees]

50. No savings for car bodies that were damaged in auto accidents.

Salt is used because it melts ice and thus makes winter roads safer to drive on.

Of course salt is cheaper than sugar, which would work equally well (any substance that will dissolve in water will melt ice.) Imagine the sticky mess and the cost of sugar on roads.

[Phoonzang]

28. Salt is probably much more dangerous than fat but...

so what? It's just one state. Let's see them try to do this on a national level. Oh that'd be fun. :popcorn:

[WriteDown]

31. What will they do about these guys?

http://www.legendaustralia.com.au/images/uploads/Horse_Licking_(2).JPG

[No Elephants]

63. It is a program for manufacturers, not consumers.

(link did not work for me, but I assume photo is of horses at salt lick?)

[WriteDown]

74. It's a joke NE. nt

[WriteDown]

32. Also, so much for pepperoni pizza. nt

[No Elephants]

55. Not really. The program is voluntary.

[WriteDown]

73. Voluntary...

until it's mandatory.

[justabob]

34. I appreciate that NYC is trying to do a good thing

but banning/restricting everything is not the way to go IMO. Where does it stop? Almost anything is bad for you if you eat/drink/use too much of it.

[No Elephants]

64. Please see Replies 56 and 60

[RobinA]

36. I Think It's Great

NYC has come far in my lifetime - 52 years. I remember the Lindsay years, very bad. Now they have solved all their problems and can spend time on this kind of horse-hockey.

[Synicus Maximus]

37. Mayor Bloomberg Adamant As City Health Department Set To Release Draft Guidelines Suggesting Salt In

Source: CBS

On Monday Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled a new plan targeting your health -- and your taste buds.

And it could have companies cutting down a key ingredient in your meals.

New York City's new war on salt is reminiscent of its pioneer smoking ban, decision to regulate trans-fats in restaurants, and mandatory posting of calorie content. It's an ambitious initiative by our admittedly salt-aholic mayor to coax a voluntary 25 percent reduction in salt content in our food over the next five years.

Read more: http://wcbstv.com/local/nyc.against.salt.2.1417760.html

---

What's next?

[WriteDown]

38. So long pepperoni pizza. nt

[virgogal]

39. I truly think Bloomberg has gone stark raving mad. Enough already!

[marasinghe]

46. you got that exactly right.

he's developed the usual capitalist delusion of being emperor of the empire state.

a) after getting shot down once, sneaked a flanking attack at the height of the summer holidays & threw all the homeless out of manhattan's largest & oldest shelter & shut it down.

b) shut down traffic & rolled out deck chairs on broadway & times square like it was the bermuda beach (not that this was a a bad thing - given the poison being spewed in the city air - i'm just questioning his motives).

forced restaurants to cut out trans-fats again, while this might objectively be a good thing - it's blooto's motives i question: during this same time-frame, there was the big fuss about the cancerous properties of sodium benzoate, along with its ban in the uk & canada - but, given that sodium benzoate is like salt for the soda manufacturers, nary a peep from the boston brahmin on banning benzoates.

b) tried to turn a manhattan rail-yard into a football stadium; luckily - shot down again.

c) managed successfully - after several forays - to disrupt brooklyn residents, take over properties & set up the groundwork for his crony capitalist pal, to build a stadium in brooklyn - for the nets: 2009's lousiest basketball team.

d) keeps trying to limit commercial vehicles from coming in to manhattan.

e) forced taxi cabs to provide tv broadcasts in the back-seats.

e) got term limits - that he originally sponsored - repealed, so he could get run for a 3rd term, in his senile stage of mayoralty.

about the few good things you can say for this guy are:
1. he's not taking a salary.
2. from a purely economic perspective, he did a fair job his first two terms. although, he should get 3 out of 10 from a human perspective.
3. he's not giuliani.
and,
4. he's better than the bunch of corrupt losers populating nyc's democratic party machine.

it's pathetic that this incomparable city couldn't come up with a decent mayor, since Fiorello La Guardia.

[No Elephants]

67. As to only the subject of this thread, please see Replies 60, 54 and 7.

You may hate him for other reasons, but this program is, at worst, innocuous, and, at best, potentially very useful.

[No Elephants]

66. Please see Reply 60.

[Fearless]

40. This would be called preventative health care.

I'd work on cigarettes myself... but hey... gotta start somewhere. I'd rather see forced labeling of restaurant foods similar to labels on grocery store items, but meh, salt isn't great for you.

[Alcibiades]

41. Pretty draconian for a mayor

Our President cannot be allowed to set policy in Washington, but they are OK with Bloomberg strong-arming restaurants.

[No Elephants]

69. Please see Reply# 53.

[Alcibiades]

72. It's not just packaged food

The article mentions several times that it applies to packaged foods and chain restaurants:

"aimed at encouraging food manufacturers and restaurant chains across the country"

"a goal of reducing the amount of salt in packaged and restaurant food by 25 percent over the next five years."

"The system proposed by the city is complex, with reductions ranging from 10 to 40 percent for 61 classes of packaged foods and 25 classes of restaurant foods"

[brooklynite]

43. Make sure its a nice Sel de Mer (Sea Salt)

available at fine Gourmet Stores everywhere...

[golfguru]

44. If it has Nacl (sodium chloride aka salt) it is no different

than regular salt. I am not sure if sea salt has no
sodium chloride.

[SPedigrees]

51. All salt was once sea salt. The salt deposits in western states were left by ancient salty oceans.

[tonysam]

42. The food fascists are at it again

They need to keep the hell out of people's lives.

[No Elephants]

68. Jaysus. Please see Reply 60.

[Imajika]

70. Is this a joke?

The economy is in the toilet, and politicians have the time for this "health police" nonsense?

There are far more important things to busy themselves with than how much salt New Yorkers eat.

This truly is a bunch of nanny-state nonsense.

At least Bloomberg isn't a Democrat so we can't be tagged as utterly tone-deaf in our priorities.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

77. I think it's a good idea.

I am a label reader. I can't eat any frozen dinners or canned soup because it has too damned much salt in it. I guess it's flavorless without it.

I eat chunky soup and put sour cream in it to dilute it enough that it tastes OK.

I have high blood pressure and take three different pills per day. I was diagnosed at age 35 with it.

I read labels on chips and everything I buy. I have switched to sea salt and it is much more flavorful than regular salt. I do not need iodine for my thyroid, because my thyroid died when I was eleven years old, and I take Armour Thyroid to replace it.

I also use Salt Free Spike seasoning on my food, black pepper and garlic and sauteed onions. I can't eat tomatoes or bell peppers or hot peppers.

[dembotoz]

78. as if the Yankees were not enought-another reason to hate new york

First
I have always lived a low salt lifestyle. I grew up with my grandfather living with us who was on a low sodium diet the entire time. We never put salt on anytrhing--period-still don't.
Never had it, don't miss it.

But i resent some fool telling me what i can or can not eat.

I was also bothered by the way when i was growing up, the school hot lunch program never had meat on fridays--to make the catholics happy.

I guess it is why i still don't buckle my seatbelt either.