Source: Palm Beach Post
Last week the Institute of Medicine said the Food and Drug Administration has been remiss in cracking down on salt. Current government guidelines — and they’re just “guidelines†— say people should have no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day, or about 3/4 of a teaspoon. Instead, Americans eat twice that. The Institute of Medicine says it should be more like 1,500 milligrams of salt.
The feds insist they’ve been working with food companies to voluntarily cut back on the salt. Indeed, General Mills, PepsiCo and Campbell’s Soup have announced voluntary cutbacks. Just last week, so did tuna company Bumblebee, which is reducing salt per serving from 250 milligrams to 140 milligrams. Just for comparison, by the way, a McDonald’s Cheeseburger Happy Meal with small fries and low fat chocolate milk has 1,060 milligrams of salt.
Bumblebee said, a little defensively, that you have to expect some salt in tuna because, you know, the fish live in a salty ocean. But the company also admitted that it adds extra salt for taste.
And there’s the big issue. People like the taste of salt. And if food companies take salt out, lots of salt shaker-wielding Americans are going to put it right back in. Good news for Morton by-the-box sales.
The Institutes of Medicine says voluntary efforts aren’t enough. “This needs to be a mandatory standard,†said Dr. Jane E. Henney of the University of Cincinnati, a former FDA commissioner who headed the IOM’s study. Because salt is so “ubiquitous, having one or two in the industry make strong attempts at this doesn’t give us that even playing field over time. It’s not sustainable.â€
But the FDA insists that, for now, it’s going to stick with cajoling rather than mandatory reductions.