Government in the kitchen?

No, this isn't something the government needs to regulate even though it's supposed to be voluntary (according to the article). It's not the business, nor is it the responsibility of government on any level to say how much salt a person should have. That comes down to personal responsibility and an individual's health.

I've spent a large part of my life in the restaurant business as well as a year in culinary school (I wanted to be a chef at one point). I can understand some concern over prepackaged foods and the amount of salt in them but as far as the seasoning of fresh dishes in the kitchen is concerned I tend to believe that most chefs only use a tiny amount of salt in their dishes. It was hammered home to us by the Master Chef who ran the culinary program at school that we don't need to use much salt in the foods we prepare, if people wanted more salt (or pepper for that matter) that is why those items are on the table.

I think they need to regulate how much salt is put into snacks like potato chips and such..but they would never do that because then chips would spoil too fast and the industry would lose too much money.
I am not that concerned about how much salt is put into restaurant cooking, most people don't eat at restaurants where food is made from scratch on an everyday basis anyway.
I feel like the amount of salt that goes into everything these days is making us evolve and our taste buds are changing. Soon I fear that we will not like to eat any food unless it has loads of salt in it...

No, the government needs to stay out of this. We have way to much government control of our lives already and we do not need any more. However, I would agree that they should list how much sodium (salt) is in the food, so that we can make an informed decision if we want to eat the food or not. As it is, I look at the amounts of sodium and fat that are in foods that I buy. But it is not the place of the goverment to tell me how much salt or fat that I can eat. Just suggest a "healthy" level and leave it to me to make the decision.

I just wanna point out the U.S. gov't already has a heavy hand in steering us to the ways THEY think we should, or want us to, eat. Meaning they love for us to eat cheap food in order to keep the existing food-powers-that-be in power. For evidence, just look at the corn subsidies handed out, and those subsidies and other semi-covert issues fatten American cattle, poultry, etc. Anyway, I know that's rather OT, but it's late/I'm sleepy but I did wanna say that. Good night, see you in the morning.

P.S. I am so conditioned to high salt (due to what i enjoy/have access to) I imagine it'd be next to impossible for me to go backwards. Sometimes I wonder about my mostly-veg diet. I find it requires a lot of salt/seasoning. So while it's low-fat compared to meat, it has a "dark side" I guess

For what it's worth, many restaurants have already cut way back on salt, because so many people are on low-sodium diets. That's a pity, because food often tastes better with a little salt added in cooking rather than at the table, when it takes more.

If they're so eager to cut back on something, why not portion sizes? But wait, that would ruin the tourism to some of NYC's famous eateries.

As already pointed out, in a real restaurant, there isn't a lot of salt used. It's just not needed when you're using fresh foods and preparing them properly (ie, not frying everything).


A little O/T - I find all the reduced sodium soups and that grocery stores are starting to stock only these annoying. I could really use that 700-900mgs of sodium. You cut back on it in all foods and teach that "salt is evil" and you get a subset of people like me with health issues that need high salt diets who probably had those issues triggered/contributed to from eating low sodium everything for years.

Have any of you ever watched "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef" on the Food network? Ann Burrell puts handfuls of salt into her recipes! My DH and I were shocked at the amount. I love salt though. I imagine that it is the norm for restaurants to use more salt than the home cook.

It would be nice for restaurants to include low-salt alternatives. Should they have to? No, of course not!

how about they all switch to sea salt which is lower in sodium?

indeed. gotta keep the illusion goin' babe, y'know, so people will think they're getting their money's worth

hey sounds good. and people won't care as long as the food's tasty

Personally, I wouldn't mind because government already is involved in restaurants in a positive way - think, health inspections and no MSG added!!
As for NYC, I've visited twice and they DO use too much salt, IMO. But so do the restaurants in MI, TN, SC, NC, TX & AR (for me, anyway). I think it's because of the high humidity & heat index because I have to eat salt when I visit back East in the summer.

I almost think New Yorkers deserve this for electing Bloomberg in the first place! Seriously though, this is just stupid. I don't get this desire to legislate everything, including what we eat.

HOw about the government just shut down all McDonalds if they really want to help people?

Yes I am dead serious. And along with Mcdonalds, all other fast food chains. Lets force people to cook at home because that is much healthier for them.

I 1000% agree and am in the same boat... lol... one dr actually RXed me to eat a large fries 3 times a week

Ew I've had three tell me to drink a lot of gatorade and drink bouillon a couple times a day. When you hit 5-6grams intake a day everything tastes weird. Most people will never eat that much, it's actually hard to do so unless you eat pretty much nothing but junk foods. (and if your body doesn't hold onto potassium, it's dangerous to eat too much sodium)

Then you have your salt sensitive people for whom even "reduced sodium" isn't enough. So trying to enforce one guideline for everyone won't work. If you want to add extra fun to it, using salt substitutes can even be tricky with people on certain medications. There's no way to win.

This reminds me of the ban on trans fat in CA that was passed one or two years ago. Bakers were given a year to find a way to make their recipes without it.

I dunno about ya'll, but when I make buttercream icing, the taste and texture is MUCH better when trans fat are involved.

If companies want to switch to lower sodium recipes on their own, great, but don't make it a mandate or law. :/

As a New Yorker, I can tell you this is not the altruistic campaign it seems to be. I like Bloomie, but he governs like a businessman. Like everywhere else the cost of healthcare is skyrocketing, the cost of surviving a stroke or heart attack is through the roof and the city pays for a lot of the care and it soaks up a lot of our resources at our city hospitals and other city services. We can't afford it. The same can be said about our intensive anti-smoking campaign--it is truly in your face raw. Yes, I'm sure Mayor Bloomberg cares about his citizens, but it is the economy stupid, NOT a nanny state!

Of course government should stay out of the kitchen. But I'm not surprised at this - just another way of this administration/government to take control of another part of your life!

I think that we in the US eat too much sugar and sodium and that it's human nature to eat junk food that has those two ingredients. The problem is that excessive sugar intake can cause diabetes and excessive sodium intake can lead to high blood pressure. Sure it may taste good, but you can make the same argument for drinking beer and wine. It's not good for you.

Take a look at this:
http://www.americanheart.org/present...dentifier=4708

I have high BP, even though I don't eat junk, exercise regularly, am not overweight etc. I have found that it is extremely difficult to avoid salt and sodium. I rarely go out to eat anymore (and I'm never eating Chinese food again!) because I know that chefs load up the dishes with salt.

So I'll be the odd man out and say yes, somebody needs to kick these chefs.
In a way they are worse than McDonald's. With McDonalds you KNOW you're eating junk whereas if you pay for a fancy meal that appears to be healthy you have a right to expect that it isn't a heart attack on a plate. If it were up to me someone would get after the food industry and get them to cut back on the amount of sodium they use overall. I now compare sodium contents when I shop and some manufacturers have no problem putting food out there that isn't loaded with it. At the very least if it makes people aware of the fact that they may be consuming way too much sodium I think it's a good thing. Those of you who need the salt, I can sympathize, but I would think it's easier to add it than to remove it.

In case anyone is interested, here is more:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/301/17/1759
I think 29 % of the population with high blood pressure practically qualifies as an epidemic.

Government needs to stay out of my bedroom, kitchen, living room, and places of business (to an extent).

Oh sure, it's all about the health of the public. That's just a nice way of saying that we're too damn stupid to take care of ourselves. Maybe some people are. Maybe they should be removed from the gene pool.

Not making a comment on anyone's personal health or their right to breed, just making the generalized statement that in every other species the weak and infirm are pretty quickly eliminated by predators or their own health. As humans, we don't believe that's humane for ourselves so we have bred ourselves (again, as a species) to a pretty bad shape, physically. Say what you will, but "survival of the fittest" has improved most species, unless we humans have messed with it one way or another - either by killing the most fit for trophies, faux medicine, or "aphrodesiacs" or unnaturally breeding to attain a certain characteristic that at some point flaws the health of the breed. Or by not allowing nature, as cruel a mistress as she is, to weed out the weak. And I speak from the standpoint of being one of the weak - having an incurable, chronic disease AND being overweight (through genetics and choices and drug side effects and disease "side effects").

My mother had high blood pressure, and had to be very careful how she ordered at restaurants. Yup, she was a pain to the wait staff and chefs/cooks, but it was her health that was a stake. When they got it wrong, it went back to the kitchen. When they got it right, they were compensated in the tip. She avoided ordering pre-prepared foods, i.e. soups/sauces, and ordered items that were high sodium/salt that were pre-prepared (i.e. salad dressing, gravy) on the side so she could control how much of it she ate. She ordered everything with NO SALT added to the cooking, and for the most part she was able to still go to decent restaurants without a problem. They get it. They understand that people have certain diets they must adhere to - low sodium, no glucose, etc - that affects how they prepare certain dishes. A good chef/cook will be able to acheive the desired flavor without using salt by the truckload. That's what herbs are for.

~3,436mg sounds awfully high. I wonder where they got their sampling from? (were they asking college kids? ) I'm wiling to bet in reality, for people who do cook and eat at home most days, that it's closer to ~2000mgs or less. I wonder if anyone would be willing to participate in a thread asking how much they usually eat in a day?


The reason I say that sounds so high is because I have a lot of difficulty making it to 3g a day, let alone higher as I should be. (for years I typically ate around 5-600mg, hence it messed me up) You'd have to be eating quite a bit and of foods that would end up costing too much to be reasonable to eat daily. Given how times are, I don't think many people can afford it.

Then it's either hereditary or from underlying disease - not from years of sodium intake. Ironically some people who are in very good physical condition, including athletes, can get high BP related to it.

I'm for mandatory labeling (i.e. the customer can get a copy of the menu or some other list of food items with the nutrition facts) and cleanliness standards, and against other government interference with my food. Informed consent to the meal-buying contract is the only part of it that the government has any right to regulate; to me it's a "keep your laws off my body" moment.

I ate at quiznos today and just noticed that the sandwich I ate has 3780 mg of sodium...just that one sandwich!!! It's shocking because I also eat other things throughout the day...and it's not like the sandwich tasted too salty or anything, I'm sure a lot of the sodium comes from just the preservatives in the dressing/sauce..
I checked it online you can see if you'd like..
http://www.quiznos.com/subsandwiches...tionalInfo.pdf
So I'm surprised you think it's hard to get that much sodium in one day...

I eat only once or twice a day (anymore than that and I get very sick, plus I don't get hungry even if I've skipped a day), can't eat much fat (junk foods are out), and if I do snack will go for veggies or fruit. But I suppose if someone is stuffing their face all day with large size portions and things like potato chips they could max out their sodium. It's going to be all the fat they eat that's going to catch up to them later, though.

If you're eating a lot, the problem is not the sodium.

I used to think it was only people who ate a lot of junk who were consuming large amounts of sodium until I started reading labels. It's not just potato chips and Whoppers, it's baked goods, cheese (esp cottage cheese), canned beans, sauerkraut things you don't think of as being unhealthy. Take a look at this list:
http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/PDFpubs/4059.pdf
It's hard to avoid sodium since salt, MSG or baking soda is added to so many foods.

I'd like to see mandatory labeling too, if nothing else so that people are aware of what they are eating. I think there is a tendency to think that if you are not using salt or eating junk that you automatically are not consuming a large amount of sodium but that simply may not be true.

Well as a 21 year old female who is 5'7" I need about 1800 calories (according to my metabolism since that's how much I eat normally without gaining weight, I exercise too, someone who doesn't may need less) that quiznos sub is about 1200 calories so that leaves me about 600 calories for snacks or drinks. So I didn't overeat by eating that. I eat once or twice a day too and today when I ate that I didn't eat a second meal, just random snacks...I still went way over the amount of sodium that's healthy without going over the amount of calories ...
2dogmom I agree sodium is in so many things you wouldn't expect to find it in. Even things that are supposed to be sweet, not salty like cookies and candy.

I just remembered, I heard somewhere that the real problem with salt isn't the amount so much that people's sodium-to-potassium ratios are mostly screwed up. Does anyone know if that's for real?

there are multiple studies indicating this...

NON bleached salts contain other minerals and are not absorbed like table salt... Ie why certain NATURAL foods high in salt do not in anyway raise BP in a NORMAL individual...

For me no one can figure out why my salt is so low...

I don't have a problem with the government regulating the salt in packaged foods. They ought put a caution warning on them and regulate the amount of sugar in packaged foods while they are at it!

But cooking is an art, and restaurants should be able to offer their creations however they want. It's up to the consumer to decide whether or not to eat at a restaurant. Definitely government needs to regulate the freshness and cleanliness of the foods served to the public, but anything else, no way.

What's next, limiting the amount of fat served at Baskin & Robbins? Will we have to start weighing our plates at buffets? Where does it end?