Shoud We Limit Salt in Processed Foods?

How big can big gov. get, folks? Step right up and see a government so big it regulates salt in your pepperoni....I'm so stunned I can't laugh yet.
How come we eat so much salt? Because we eat too much, period. When we are really hungry food tastes good without all the extra seasoning. Remember personal responsibility? Why not read labels, eat less and decide for ourselves what will be available by voting with greenbacks? Or is that too simple?

The salt scare is an example of junk science. People with high blood pressure should limit salt based on their doctor's advice. People with normal blood pressure don't need to limit salt.

Stossel did a good piece on this. Here's an article:

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JohnStossel/2005/08/31/half-baked_science

Quote from article:
"... Dr. Michael Alderman, who headed the American Society of Hypertension, America's biggest organization of specialists in high blood pressure. He says some people should cut back on salt, but for most people, it's pointless. Some studies have found that those who ate the least salt were four times more likely to have heart attacks."

You've been warned for years to cut down on salt. It turns out, there was no basis for those warnings.

Isn't cutting back on salt kind of like the water "controversy"? Whether or not you NEED to drink X amount of water, isn't it better to drink water than soda or calorie-laden juice?

Cutting sodium out of processed foods won't HURT anybody, and it may help prevent hypertension. I don't see a problem with it.

I'm on the fence about this. On one hand, I'm all for regulating sodium content simply because it would make shopping so much easier if I had more than 3 options available to me if I don't want to get 50% of my daily sodium intake from one can of soup. On the other hand, I agree with Rhoda, take some personal responsibility. If consumers demand lower sodium products, food packagers will deliver. Or heck, I could even make the soup myself.

There's plenty of other reasons to avoid processed foods, whose labels read more like a science project than a meal.

But I think hypertension, in general, is much more attributable to stress, rather than electrolyte imbalances. Or even more attributable to cigarettes and alcohol.

Nevertheless, a person with hypertension should seek to balance their electrolytes, as this may have a positive impact on the disease.

For people without hypertension, there should be no great concern.

I hardly ever eat processed food, and I do buy low-sodium versions of everything (turns out even a can of green beans has salt added, who knew?), and I don't use salt in my cooking, and I do believe that it can and will benefit my long term health to do these things - but I don't know that it's the government's place to REGULATE these things.

However, adding warnings and information? Sure. I don't think most people realize how much sodium they're consuming, especially with processed food. We really just need to start raising children to be food label freaks so they can see what they're eating. Although I wonder how many people are actually checking the labels for salt? I look at calories, fat, and carbs before I look at sodium.

rhoda said:
Remember personal responsibility? Why not read labels, eat less and decide for ourselves what will be available by voting with greenbacks? Or is that too simple?

Because most people won't do it, they make stupid choices and jack up the costs of necessary health care for you and me.

And let's not forget about the personal responsibility of the people who make these products. Everyone should be held accountable, not just the consumer.

(Now that's an answer that a conservative and a liberal can both love.)

Oh, it's about time. I can't believe how much salt is in stuff. I always get water bloat after eating frozen entrees, canned soups (even the lighter in sodium ones). And I can TASTE the salt. Salt is to enhance, not to assault the taste buds, no?

I like salt. Salt tastes yummy on tomatoes, eggs, etc. But I do feel that with the widespread hypertension in the US, a bit of rational use of salt should be in the minds of manufacturers of processed foods. I mean, we can ADD salt. We can't extract it from foods. Poeple are free to salt way anything they want, but many families now rely on prepackaged and convenience foods, and those foods manufacturers should consider the benefits of reducing sodium in their products.

While I hesitate any time it's MANDATED by law, if that's the only way to move the food giants, so be it.

And I even hate that it has to be that way.

I think it's time people start learning to think and do for themselves instead of relying on this survey and that "study" (which is often funded by a biased group) for their information.

For example: my father-in-law was told by his doctor that he should 'cut down' on salt. He and my mother-in-law interpreted this as "no table salt", so they don't offer salt in a shaker on the table at meals, they don't add salt to food when cooking, etc. But then, in a single meal, the main dish will be a pre-marinated pork loin or corned-beef (both of which are like eating a salt-lick), those noodles-in-a-bag which are FULL of salt, and pre-packaged/seasoned vegetables, not to mention unroll-and-bake rolls, and a salad that they serve floating in a dressing-bath.

Then they look at me funny when I eat my salad without dressing, I eat very little of the meat, none of the noodles, and request a little salt for the oven-baked fries (because, I'm sorry, fries must.have.salt). They get all over me for my "weird" eating habits, and assault (har har) me for putting that "evil" salt on my fries, when, in actuality, that type of meat, and meal in general, has caused me to be dehydrated in the past.

The problem here is not the lack of government regulation, but the lack of common sense and actual knowledge that the general public has. We have been brought up from day one to blindly believe that the government wants only the best for us, when, in actuality, the government only wants more power and control.

I forgot to add.... I would have no problem at all if the food companies *on their own* decided to reduce the amount of salt in foods. I think it's a great idea. But yet another government mandate... people, our congress needs to be worrying about other things, not how much salt we eat. That's our job!

rhoda said:
How big can big gov. get, folks? Step right up and see a government so big it regulates salt in your pepperoni....I'm so stunned I can't laugh yet. How come we eat so much salt? Because we eat too much, period. When we are really hungry food tastes good without all the extra seasoning. Remember personal responsibility? Why not read labels, eat [...]

Excellent post. I think some people who write on these blogs should always read your two opening sentences.

I think this is a little wool-over-the-eyes. Yes, there is far too much "salt" in our food - but I think the issue should be more about the monosodium glutamate in these foods - it's not only the amount of sodium but where the sodium is coming from. It would be okay if it WAS just salt they are adding - but they are not. The sodium content IS listed - but where the sodium is coming from is hidden as food manufacturers can hide monosodium glutamate under different names. THAT is what should be banned - not "salt"! Okay, lower the sodium - then raise the monosodium glutamate, or should I say, hydrolyzed soy protein, autolyzed yeast, spices...

Kailash said:
Because most people won't do it, they make stupid choices and jack up the costs of necessary health care for you and me.

And let's not forget about the personal responsibility of the people who make these products. Everyone should be held accountable, not just the consumer.

(Now that's an answer that a conservative and a liberal can both love.)

No it isn't. It's not even remotely close to anything like what a conservative or libertarian would love.

You think you've assigned blame fairly, but you haven't. You've excused the consumer from ANY personal responsibility simply because you think "they won't." Oh, I guess that's OK then! They won't, so we just turn around and find someone else to blame. Or "hold accountable." Let me guess: financially accountable, right?

So what if consumers "won't?" THEY SHOULD. And until we expect them to, they will continue to not give a rat;s hairy backside, as you will give them the perfect excuse: "It's not my fault, it's the big bad food companies!"

Companies did not start selling this stuff because they thought it would be awesome to get the country addicted to salt. They sell it because PEOPLE DEMAND IT. They flock to garbage food and garbage fast food in droves, and they love it. You want it to change? Change their minds, not their laws.

I guess that's too hard. Easier to get the government to make a new law than it is to get people to change their minds.

On top of all of that, there is too much government interference in our lives already, and now we're just begging for more. It's sickening.

As a consumer, I know I'd really appreciate more low-sodium options, and I get frustrated in general with how long it takes the public to demand healthier products. And I imagine we spend a lot of medical dollars on heart attacks and strokes, some of which might be attributable to our sky-high sodium intake.

However I'm not sure what the right answer is myself in terms of the FDA adopting warnings or ceilings or whatever. Since the agency is charged with regulating food safety to try to protect our health, I don't think taking some kind of action would be totally unreasonable, but how much would be overreaching? I'm not sure.

But I think reasonable minds may differ on this issue, and I'm really appreciating hearing all the different points of view!

Our food is so processed (and nutritionally bankrupt), I am not sure you can make a limit on salt. Salt is what gives processed foods more taste. The key may be to educate people on relying less on processed foods and get closer to what food really is. If we limit salt, should we limit fat and have minimum fiber content? What about regulating preservatives? It seems to be a slippery slope here.
In a perfect world, processed food would be WICKED expensive and fruits and veggies cheap. Now that would be utopia!