FDA Getting Salty On Sodium, Seeks To Dramatically Reduce Your Salt Intake

The FDA introduced new sodium guidelines today, aimed at reducing the amount of salt that Americans consume every day. The FDA’s new salt guidelines take aim at processed foods in particular, pushing for sodium limits in 150 food categories.

The new FDA salt guidelines are, however, voluntary. Food manufacturers aren’t required to adhere to them, but the guidelines highlight what many health experts claim is an area where many Americans suffer needlessly. Sodium intake in the United States is among the highest in the world, with many U.S. processed and packaged foods containing an amount well over the average American’s daily recommended sodium intake.

“The totality of scientific evidence, as reviewed by many well-respected scientific organizations, continues to support lowering sodium consumption from current levels,” said Susan Mayne, director of FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

For the first time, the FDA is pressuring the food industry to cut down on salt https://t.co/b5qZR0Rq2y

— Jeffrey Levin (@jilevin) June 1, 2016

The FDA’s new sodium guidelines aim to cut overall salt intake levels by about a third. Today’s announcement of the FDA’s sodium guidelines mark the first time the federal government has established a daily recommended sodium limit. According to the Christian Science Monitor, the FDA first promised to introduce sodium intake limits back in 2010, but due to the difficulty of identifying sodium levels in various foods, the FDA delayed the sodium limit proposal until just today.

Sodium is difficult regulate, in part, because of its ubiquity – it’s in almost every processed or packaged food in the United States, and even in many foods which consumers might not expect.

“While a majority of Americans report watching or trying to reduce added salt in their diets, the deck has been stacked against them. The majority of sodium intake comes from processed and prepared foods, not the salt shaker,” wrote the FDA in a statement released today.

According to the Hill, the average American consumes about 3,400 milligrams of sodium every day, which is around 50 percent higher than the maximum recommended intake of salt. The FDA, with the new guidelines unveiled today, seeks to cut that number to 3,000 milligrams this year, and eventually reduce it to around 2,300 milligrams each day – in part, by putting pressure on the food industry to lower the amount of salt used in processed and prepared foods.

Despite the new FDA sodium guidelines, it’s unlikely they’ll become hard regulations any time soon. Back in 2010, when the FDA first proposed to introduce new guidelines for the food industry, the Republican controlled congress fought hard against the new regulations, eventually stifling them entirely.

“In this political climate with a Republican Congress and such massive industry opposition, we’re gratified that the administration is at least coming out with voluntary targets,” said Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

The FDA finally takes a stand on salt in the food supply https://t.co/xCwIkJixrp http://pic.twitter.com/TetRvcRlIr

— Julia Belluz (@juliaoftoronto) June 1, 2016

The latest push by the FDA to take a more active role in encouraging Americans to eat healthy comes on the heels of several other high-profile moves which have shaken up the prepared and processed food industry. Just last month, the FDA updated nutrition labels to provide more complete information regarding calories, serving sizes, and introduced new regulations regarding which foods can be legally labeled as “healthy.”

Motherboard broke down the very real effects that over-consumption of sodium can have on the human body, and found that the amount consumed by most Americans is potentially dangerous for long-term heart health. Hypertension and heart disease are two serious risks posed by over-consumption of salt, and with the new FDA guidelines the federal government seeks to tackle these two conditions head on.

“Consumers may not even notice it. The levels will be gradually coming down in the foods that they love and have always preferred. This is kind of making a healthier default without the consumer necessarily having to make that choice,” said Susan Mayne.

[Photo by Shutterstock/HandmadePictures]

FDA Getting Salty On Sodium, Seeks To Dramatically Reduce Your Salt Intake is an article from: The Inquisitr News