November 29, 2007 the U.S Food and Drug Administration meeting will consider a request for the agency to strengthen regulations and labeling for salt.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest has asked the FDA to consider regulating the amount of salt that is put into processed foods and to require additional health information on the labels of food containing salt.
Reducing or eliminating salt intake is one of the suggested way to help reduce high blood pressure, a condition suffered by one in three Americans, so being able to correctly tell that sodium content of food is paramount. Forcing limits on salt content would also help in controlling something that has become a national epidemic.
If you've never tried to shop for someone that needs to control their salt intake, you should pretend you have to. It's a real eye opener. Here in Canada, for almost 2 years, our labels include "Nutrition Facts" for the product. "Nutrition Facts" include things like Calories, Fat, Cholesterol, Sodium and the % that a serving takes of your daily value. For example 1 tbsp of peanut butter contains 100 calories. It has 8 grams of fat, which is 12% of a person's daily value. A little more than 8 tbsp. of peanut butter and you've reached your fat allowance for the day. In that 1 tbsp of peanut butter there is 50 mg of sodium (2% of your daily value). We have restrictions to how you can advertise your product. "Sodium Free" does not mean 0 salt, it means less than 5 mg. So you think 5 mg, that's not bad but it's PER SERVING. And in the case of the peanut butter that's only one tablespoon. The American Heart Association recommends 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day. For a HEALTHY adult. That Big Mac you just ate, it contains 1050 mg of sodium.
Everyone needs to consume some sodium, as it breaks down carbohydrates, sanitizes the colon and activates gastric secretions but controlling how much is the issue. If you are truly unable to know the content of the product you are eating, how can you ever "control" anything?
So in my opinion, label and restrict away. It can only do more good than harm!
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