I Have Magical Powers!
I am able to have food that has lower salt content in it simply by entering a grocery store and say, going to the bacon aisle and choosing Oscar Mayer lower sodium bacon. Or...I can even pop on over to the fruit and vegetable aisle and buy a cucumber, for no added salt content! Amazing feat, huh!
Well, it must be, because the government is on the verge of forcing manufacturers to cut salt content in food. Walter Olson writes at Cato:
With little publicity, the federal Food and Drug Administration has begun laying groundwork for one of the more audacious regulatory initiatives of the Obama administration: mandatory reductions in the salt content of processed foods in the supermarket aisle and at restaurants.In a September 15 "Request for Comments, Data, and Information" (PDF) published in the Federal Register, the FDA solicits from the public "comments, data, and evidence relevant to the dietary intake of sodium as well as current and emerging approaches designed to promote sodium reduction." Among the specific ideas it has in mind: setting federally prescribed "targets" for "stepwise" reductions in the amount of salt allowable in various foods, the phased nature of the reductions indicated because consumers' "taste preference for sodium is acquired and can be modified."
As Walter notes:
It's one thing to limit adulteration or contamination of foods, or the use of mysterious chemical additives; it is another to order the reformulation of recipes to reduce intake of a substance that 1) occurs naturally in virtually all foods; 2) is beneficial to health in many circumstances; and 3) has been sought out and purposely added to the human diet through recorded history....Reports have begun to come out that the salt panic has been exaggerated and may even pose some health dangers of its own. "New review questions benefit of cutting down on salt," reported Reuters about a new review of more than 160 scientific studies published in the American Journal of Hypertension. "It's time to end the war on salt," per a July Scientific American article by Melinda Wenner Moyer.
My recent blog items here and here on the "science" on salt leading people to want to cut it, and the actual science.
So the governments plan for 'better' heathis to force manufacturers to remove natural and artifical preservitives?
Personally I dont think eating mold is all that healthy
lujlp at November 25, 2011 6:45 AM
I love salt. I have low blood pressure--so low that standing up too fast can make me dizzy. The Feds would probably suggest I take some pills for this.
KateC at November 25, 2011 7:05 AM
One of my favorite treats when I hit a Red Lobster is the salt-encrusted baked potato.
I like them so much that I'll make them at home on occasion.
I'm tired of the regulations that are not in the federal purview being implemented.
Jim P. at November 25, 2011 7:57 AM
Time for the FDA and the EPA to go.
brian at November 25, 2011 8:31 AM
Time for the FDA and the EPA to go.
Both agencies suffer from the same problem. They've accomplished their missions. Food is safer than it's ever been. The air and water are cleaner than at any time in recent history. But being bureaucracies these agencies must search for new missions to justify their existence. So carbon dioxide is now a pollutant and salt is a toxin.
DrMaturin at November 25, 2011 8:43 AM
"...the phased nature of the reductions indicated because consumers' "taste preference for sodium is acquired and can be modified"
Wow. They're not even trying to hide the fact that they think people are nothing but lab rats.
Martin at November 25, 2011 8:47 AM
FDA official: "We gotta hurry up and get these salt regulations in place before these damn researchers prove that this anti-salt hysteria we are riding on is bullshit."
Dwatney at November 25, 2011 8:50 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/11/25/i_have_magical.html#comment-2796237">comment from MartinGregg accidentally got me low-sodium chicken soup at Whole Foods. Tastes like crap -- until I salt the hell out of it. My parents eat a low-sodium diet. Have been for decades. My mother shops at the health food store and/or buys unprocessed food. But she CHOOSES to have them eat this way; she hasn't been forced to by the government. A government that treats all its citizens as idiots encourages that idiotry.
Amy Alkon at November 25, 2011 8:50 AM
You left out one--
If you buy a food that turns out to be too salty and you don't like it, you can choose not to buy it again.
No, really, it's true.
deathbysnoosnoo at November 25, 2011 8:59 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/11/25/i_have_magical.html#comment-2796268">comment from deathbysnoosnooThat's why I buy low-salt bacon whenever it's on sale. Regular bacon's too salty. Low-salt bacon is perfectly salted.
Amy Alkon at November 25, 2011 9:04 AM
This is a good example of the "excessive Federal regulations" occasionally claimed by this or that group.
The normal MO of any agency is to increase its influence. The ideal for FDA, EPA and an assortment of other acronyms is actually to establish a status quo, so that everyone knows the rules.
But that doesn't make the agency more important, and an ignorant, uneducated public doesn't know anything about the issues, much less how to reign in said agency without destroying its usefulness.
BTW, Andrew Kiger, why doesn't your link resolve? NoScript blocks it.
Radwaste at November 25, 2011 12:09 PM
The government will soon pass legislation requiring us to wear specific types of footwear to climb step-ladders, safety glasses while cooking, and gas masks to change dirty diapers...
Chairman Mao is smiling somewhere.
Savant-Idiot at November 25, 2011 2:12 PM
Obviously you don't feel salt should be the line, are there any substances you do feel should be limited in food?
The question is at what point something stops being food and starts being toxic.
Now the salt thing is silly, if you can't sell high sodium foods how're you gonna sell boxes of salt?
NicoleK at November 25, 2011 11:24 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/11/25/i_have_magical.html#comment-2801581">comment from NicoleKHah, great question. Unintended consequences of laws, unless they write around salt itself. Don't count on it!
Amy Alkon at November 25, 2011 11:58 PM
I wonder if they'll try to ban water softeners?
I can buy salt in 40 pound blocks or loose crystals.
Jim P. at November 26, 2011 5:40 AM
"I wonder if they'll try to ban water softeners?"
In a perfect storm of the worst aspects of government regulation, California has banned DIY installation or maintenance of ion-exchange water softeners. Only a "licensed water service professional" may touch a water softener. So, what they've done is (1) deny the use of a useful product to a lot of people, (2) lock in a captive market for water-softener service companies, and (3) create a market for the magnetic-water-softener charlatans. That's government regulation for ya.
Cousin Dave at November 26, 2011 8:45 AM
CD,
What in the hell is Home Depot or Lowe's allowed to sell to the general public without a license in California?
I am definitely not going anywhere near CA if I can help it.
Jim P. at November 26, 2011 11:18 AM
CA already requires you to have an occupational license to buy PVC, apparently because the license prevents you from making potato guns out of it or sniffing PVC glue.
But you can still buy "Miracle Mineral Solution". Yeah, ingest bleach, cure your ailments. Hm.
California has turned into a nightmare. At that, they're just leading the rest of the country.
Radwaste at November 27, 2011 9:47 AM
"What in the hell is Home Depot or Lowe's allowed to sell to the general public without a license in California?"
I think you can still buy a screwdriver if you have the proper permits. Screwdrivers are, however, known to the state of California to cause cancer and birth defects.
Cousin Dave at November 27, 2011 4:23 PM
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