There's a process to reduction
Ever since a wave of warnings about salt started in the 1980s, Americans have fretted. Diets low in sodium, salt substitutes, and everything from saltfree potato chips to salad dressings were all introduced to reduce blood pressure and insure heart health.
A decade later, when some studies showed little correlation between heart health and salt intake, consumers began to rebel. In the meantime, salt in processed foods -- everything from chicken fingers, where you'd expect it, to canned soups and frozen lasagna, where you might not -- started creeping up. In fact, Lillian Sonnenberg, Massachusetts General Hospital's senior manager of ambulatory nutrition services, says that 75 percent of salt consumed comes from processed foods.
Last June, the American Medical Association released a report saying that Americans eat about two teaspoons or more of salt a day instead of the recommended one teaspoon. The AMA asked the Food and Drug Administration to change the status of salt from food that is GRAS -- generally recognized as safe -- to one that should be regulated. This follows a report in February 2005 by the consumer advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest that said salt consumption had climbed alarmingly in 30 years and that Americans were consuming 4,000 milligrams (2 1/4 teaspoons) of sodium daily. The group has sued the FDA in federal court, seeking to have the agency reclassify salt as a food additive and regulate it.
The AMA calls for a 50 percent reduction of salt in processed foods and cites pepperoni pizza, hot dogs, and some canned soups as having 480 milligrams of salt per serving. Both groups also blame restaurants as contributing to high sodium levels.
To counter that, the Salt Institute and the Food Products Association both issued statements this summer. On its website, the institute cites 13 studies that Richard L. Hanneman, president, says ``have examined whether cutting salt will reduce heart attacks or improve mortality." These, he says, have not supported the AMA resolution. The Food Products statement, also on its website, says reducing sodium ``creates challenges in maintaining a product's consumer appeal and ensuring food safety." The association says that products are marked with sodium levels and that education, not requirements, are what's needed.
Sonnenberg, the MGH nutritionist, says that the one teaspoon a day rule applies to everyone, not just those diagnosed with high blood pressure or heart problems. ``If you're telling a person to eat a low-salt diet, you're telling them to eat less processed foods," she says. She tells patients to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, fish and chicken, and restrict foods such as frozen pizzas, canned soups, and snacks.
