Salt limits urged for processed foods, restaurant meals

The AMA and others recommend that the FDA follow the example of nations that restrict the level of sodium in foods.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. Dec. 24/31, 2007.

Washington -- Reducing the amount of salt in America's diet would go a long way toward lowering our collective blood pressure, according to AMA testimony before a Nov. 29 hearing of the Food and Drug Administration.

The Association joined with others in asking the agency to set strict limits on the levels of salt in processed foods and restaurant meals and to remove salt from the list of foods that generally are considered to be safe.

The consumption of excessive amounts of sodium is one of the main causes for the rise in blood pressure that accompanies aging, said Stephen Havas, MD, MPH, the AMA's vice president for Science, Quality and Public Health. The progressive rise leads to a 90% lifetime probability of developing hypertension and its accompanying risks for heart attacks and strokes, he added.

Dr. Havas testified for the AMA in support of a petition brought to the FDA by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington, D.C.-based nutrition and public health advocacy group that has been trying for decades to draw the FDA's attention to the risks of too much salt.

Most of the abundance of sodium, which now totals two to three times what is considered appropriate, in the average American's diet does not come from overused salt shakers in home kitchens. Rather, it comes from food manufacturers and restaurants putting it there, Dr. Havas said.