FDA should force rollback in salty foods

[BABY1]

Public health experts urged the Food and Drug Administration Tuesday to force food makers to gradually cut the salt hidden inside their products, something the agency is considering.
Americans eat about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt daily, more than double what they need for good health — and high enough to increase risk of high blood pressure and other problems. Most of that sodium comes inside common processed foods — from soups to frozen pizza to sliced cheese.
Tuesday, the prestigious Institute of Medicine said the food industry hasn't done enough to voluntarily cut back. It urged FDA to set maximum sodium levels for different foods in a stepwise rollback, so people have time to adjust to the change.
The FDA hasn't decided whether to regulate sodium levels, but "no options are off the table," said spokeswoman Meghan Scott.
"There is no initiative at the moment," she said. But, "there is very little debate any longer over the impact sodium has."
The IOM is an independent agency chartered by Congress to advise the federal government, and is just the latest in a string of health groups to pressure the FDA in recent years to cut the salt.
The American Medical Association has said that if the salt in processed and restaurant food were cut in half over 10 years, that ultimately 150,000 lives a year could be saved.
One in three U.S. adults has high blood pressure, in turn a leading cause of heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. And while being overweight and inactive raises blood pressure, too much salt is a big culprit as well.
Government guidelines set 2,300 milligrams of sodium as the maximum daily intake — the amount above which health problems can appear. But the IOM says people need just 1,500 mg a day, even less if they're over 50. Yet average consumption is more than 3,400 mg.
Major foods makers have started reducing sodium in recent years, but have argued that they don't have tasty ways to replace sodium for deep cuts — and they fear consumer backlash as the taste changes.
But specialists say people do gradually get used to the taste of less sodium.
"The best way to accomplish this is to provide companies the level playing field they need so they are able to work across the board to reduce salt in the food supply," said Dr. Jane E. Henney of the University of Cincinnati, a former FDA commissioner who chaired the IOM report.

[Dzone]

Re: FDA should force rollback in salty foods

Indeed. There needs to be some regulation of these kinds of things in our society. These corporations will NOT do it on their own. They don't care if their products are unhealthy as long as they are selling like hotcakes.

[JsJs24]

Re: FDA should force rollback in salty foods

Indeed. There needs to be some regulation of these kinds of things in our society. These corporations will NOT do it on their own. They don't care if their products are unhealthy as long as they are selling like hotcakes.

I disagree. Imagine that..lol. More regulation = bigger state = less freedom = eventual socialist state.

People need to learn to be responsible for themselves and stop this nanny state bs. Eventually the state will have to control every aspect of our lives. I mean for crying out loud, salt regulation. What's next? Are they going to tell us how many cups of coffee we can have per day? And as for the kids in school, well it is up to the parents to rear them better and teach them to eat healthy. It is not the government's job to raise the children of our society. If you don't like what they are making for lunch at the schools then pack your kids a lunch that is healthy.

My goodness, is everyone going to start believing the government knows best and has to look out for everyone.

That's my 2 cents anyway.

[Dzone]

Re: FDA should force rollback in salty foods

I can see your point of view. There was a time in history when everyone provided for their own food supply. This day and age, unless we do our own farming, we are somewhat dependent on others for our food supply. We can make smarter decisions, yes. We can read labels. But when sodium is hidden in food, without disclosure, well, we can have all kinds of unknown toxins hidden in our food, sodium being one of the most egregious. There is a point when it becomes ridiculous, like you said a nanny state, but there have to be some standards put in to place. For example, If their weren't some regulation of our tap water, we might be drinking feces..lol..if ya catch my drift

[JsJs24]

Re: FDA should force rollback in salty foods

I can see your point of view. There was a time in history when everyone provided for their own food supply. This day and age, unless we do our own farming, we are somewhat dependent on others for our food supply. We can make smarter decisions, yes. We can read labels. But when sodium is hidden in food, without disclosure, well, we can have all kinds of unknown toxins hidden in our food, sodium being one of the most egregious. There is a point when it becomes ridiculous, like you said a nanny state, but there have to be some standards put in to place. For example, If their weren't some regulation of our tap water, we might be drinking feces..lol..if ya catch my drift

I do catch your drift and also respect and understand your point. However, far too often we are asking or allowing the government to step in and regulate things. But do people stop and think about the ramifications of infinite regulating? This is why I have always maintained my belief that our country will eventually be under totalitarianism. The left-right paradigm supports collectivism but merely on different extremes. I believe in individualism, which is the opposite of collectivism and the only means to maintain eternal liberty.

It is not difficult to eat a healthy diet with low salt. Even if the food you buy does not disclose the true salt content, just judge for yourself by taste. Salt has a taste to it, which is why it is added to our foods.

If we allow the government to come in and regulate our salt intake I guarantee you it will not stop there. They will continue to regulate everything we use. I can't for the life of me understand why so many people trust our government and ask them to come in and control every aspect of our lives, but I do know that it will lead to less and less freedom.

People have to begin to realize that each and every regulation or law strips away an equal amount of liberty. We were a more free society last year, and the year before, and ten years before that, etc. Conversely, we will have less freedom next year, the year after, and the year after, etc. This is not rocket science. The environmentalists and health police pose the greatest threat to our liberty, but they have done a good job of fooling the American people into thinking there are real problems.

And why does it necessarily have to be food that is the cause for kids being overweight in larger numbers today? How do we know its not from a mere lack of exercise. Think about that for a minute. When I was a kid we didn't have all of the video games we do today. There was Atari and later Nintendo, but no PS3s and XBoxes with hundreds or thousands of games to choose from. We also didn't have the internet. Thus, when I was a kid I would go outside and ride my bike or walk everywhere, play sports, hide and go seek, capture the flag, etc. We would go out in the woods and play for hours, or ride bikes on trails, take hikes, etc. Today kids sit on their lazy asses and play games, surf the net, talk on cell phones, chat on myspace and facebook, etc. The exercise they are getting is far less than when I was a kid.

People should realize that the government does not care about any of us, and they sure as heck don't care about our health. They are merely concerned with controlling every aspect of our lives.