FDA issues guidelines to reduce salt content in food

The Obama administration issued new guidelines on 1 June urging US citizens to cut back on their salt intake. The guidelines apply to packaged foods like bread, salad dressing, canned soup and cheese, as also to meals in restaurants.

According to the US food regulator, the onus was on food manufacturers and restaurants, which accounted for most of the sodium intake, and not the salt shaker, to cut levels.

Many food companies and retailers had already introduced measures to cut salt content in their offerings.

Mars Food, a subsidiary of Mars Inc, producer of Uncle Ben's rice among other products, had said in April that it would support the FDA's sodium regulations.

Though the food industry had broadly welcomed the guidance, it was quick to point out that it had already made inroads to cut salt levels in the food it offers.

''This evaluation should include research that indicates health risks for people who consume too much sodium as well as health risks from consuming too little sodium'', Leon Bruner, chief science officer Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) said.

According to projections,  reducing sodium intake by 400mg/d could prevent 32,000 myocardial infarctions and 20,000 strokes each year.

The guidelines are voluntary, so food companies would not be required to comply, and it could be a year or more before they were final. According to commentators, the idea was persuade companies and restaurants, many of which had already lowered sodium levels in their products to be more consistent in their approach.

It was the first time the government had recommended such limits. Sodium content was already included on existing food labels, but the government had not set specific sodium recommendations. The guidelines set limits for about 150 categories of foods, from cereals to pizzas and sandwiches.

According to health officials from the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, overwhelming scientific evidence showed that blood pressure increased when sodium intake increased, increasing the chances of heart disease and stroke.