Consumer group wants salt to become food additive

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) said the reclassification of salt was necessary to tighten the regulation surrounding the ingredient.

"Too much salt in the diet is boosting Americans' blood pressure and is prematurely killing roughly 150,000 people each year,"​ claimed the report​ published last week by the CSPI. The organization added that: "Salt consumption has drifted upward over the past 30 years to the point where Americans are now consuming about 4,000 milligrams of sodium per day-about twice the recommended amount."​

Michael Jacobson, the CSPI's executive director suggested that a reduction of salt would also help the nation's budget.

"Americans spend more than $15 billion each year on drugs to treat hypertension, yet the government spends almost nothing to reduce salt consumption,"​ said Jacobson. "And taking its cue from indifferent regulatory agencies, the food industry has done little to lower sodium levels in processed and restaurant foods."​

The 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that young adults consume less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day, while people with hypertension, African Americans and middle-aged and elderly people are advised to consume no more than 1,500 mg per day.

Processed and restaurant foods are the worst culprits, according to the 32-page report, contributing almost 80 percent of sodium to the diet.

"Thousands of processed foods, such as frozen dinners and soups, contain between 500 and 1,000 mg of sodium per serving,"​ said the organization, which added that it had found a wide variance between sodium content in different brands of similar foods.

Examples given by the report included a two-tablespoon serving of Ken's Light Caesar salad dressing that contains 600 mg of sodium, while the same amount of Morgan's Caesar has 170. Similarly, Progresso Vegetable soup has 940 mg of sodium per serving, while Healthy Choice Garden Vegetable has 480 mg.

On the other hand, the report found that only about 11 percent percent of sodium in the diet comes from salt added while eating or cooking.

In addition to setting limits on sodium, CSPI also recommends that government requires front-label symbols to identify high-sodium foods, demands food manufacturers use less salt, and establishes a division to reduce sodium and promote diets rich in vegetables, beans, fruit, nuts, and other healthful foods to cut cardiovascular disease.

The Salt Institute responded to the attack by agreeing that it is right to ask whether consumers should reduce the amount of salt they consume. However, president Richard Hanneman, was not impressed with the CSPI's lack of scientifically proven data and demanded that the government conduct a randomized controlled trial of the cardiovascular outcomes of sodium reduction.

"Let's look at the evidence. It's easy to make bombastic charges. Where's the beef?,"​ he concluded.

Across the Atlantic, consumers, with the help of the food industry, are making the effort to cut down on their salt intake, according to a small survey published by the UK Food Standards Agency earlier this month.

Nearly one third of food shoppers are making a special effort to cut down on salt, and are reading the food label for content, claimed the FSA.The government-funded food agency asserted that their latest survey findings could be an encouraging sign that industry and government initiatives to educate the consumer are starting to pay off. '

Food manufacturer Heinz, for example, has launched a 'Reduced Sugar & Salt' (50 per cent drop) version of its iconic Heinz Baked Beans product in the UK.

And moving its products to below the UK government's 0.875 per cent target, salt content has been reduced by 20 per cent in standard Heinz Baked Beans between 1999 and 2003, and are undergoing a further 15 percent reduction, the company claims.