Salt I

Once again, New York City is making nutrition news. First it was a city-wide ban on trans fat. Now they're trying to get us to eat less salt.

New York's "National Salt Reduction Initiative" aims to reduce the amount of salt in packaged and restaurant food by 25% over the next five years – a lofty goal, especially since food industry giants have been fighting cuts in salt usage for years.

According to food companies, reducing salt in processed food by 10% is easy enough. But removing more than that is harder. Why? Salt enhances flavor. Take away a lot of the salt and your favorite convenience food just doesn't taste right. If you add flavor with fresh herbs, spices and higher quality ingredients, the cost goes up and sales plummet.

Years ago, food producers removed sugar and fat from processed food. It was a "win-win" situation – consumers were eager for foods that promised weight loss and industry profited from sales. But since low-salt versions of our favorite foods don't offer anything as glamorous as weight loss, they're not as likely to be such a hit at the grocery store. With less profit for manufacturers, there's less incentive to jump on the low-salt wagon.

Here's the hard sell: Cutting back on salt affects something that can't be seen – blood pressure. We know that too much sodium (the problematic component of salt) can cause high blood pressure (hypertension) in some people. Although genes, age and medical condition play a role, it's estimated that 70% of Americans are salt-sensitive – they are susceptible to hypertension if they ingest too much salt. High blood pressure, known as a "silent killer", increases the risk for heart disease and stroke. In the US, it's estimated that 150,000 lives could be saved each year if people were to lower their blood pressure. And cutting back on sodium could help.

Most of us need less than 1 gram of sodium a day. Since we're now getting between 2 and 5 grams, it seems reasonable to cut back, especially if it could save lives.