The recent annual meeting of the American Medical Association, which represents 250,000 doctors in the United States, has passed a resolution calling for foods that are high in salt – containing over 480mg – to be given warning labels, perhaps incorporating an image of a salt-shaker accompanied by the word ‘High’ and a red exclamation mark. The AMA believes that it would be easy for Americans to cut their daily salt intake – and average intake would need to be cut by 50% to reach recommended levels. This would also require action by restaurants and food manufacturers to begin to reduce salt in their products.
Claims by the food industry that reducing salt in foods to this extent would affect the taste have been countered by assertions that the taste buds would adapt over time. Of course, there could also be significant health benefits – salt intake is linked to hypertension, which affects 65 million people in the US alone, many of whom are unaware that they have the condition.
The importance of reducing salt in food has also been highlighted by a recent report by the Trading Standards Institute in the UK, which has warned parents of very wide variations of salt and fat in foods marketed to children. The salt in ready-made meals, for example, varied from a trace to 6.9g, which is above the recommended daily level for adults as well as children.
Sources: Medical News Today, 14 June 2006; BBC News Online, 20 June 2006