Absolutely.
Would you be in favor of government limits on the amount of sodium that can be put into processed food?
- Thread starter acri1
- Start date
US recommendedations UL for salt intake is currently 2.3g per day.
The target for the UK is 8.1grams in this study.
I don't think these are the limits y'all have in mind
Misleading. Salt intake (used by UK) and sodium intake (used by US) aren't exactly the same. Sodium is about 40% of salt's weight.
So the UK target of 8.1g salt is equivalent to about 3.1g of sodium. Don't use the
smiley when speaking on subjects you don't understand 
dora_da_destroyer
Master Baker
No, it’s obvious I do read labels and understand food science. You can use a lot less and no salt in packaged food than we do and still have it be preserved - ie all the no salt canned soups, broths and vegetables sitting on shelves. I cook a lot and know how little salt is needed to impart flavor as well as the benefits of using salts that have lower sodium (ie kosher). You’re making excuses for a food industry that deals in excess when it doesn’t have to.pack a lunch.
Go for healthier cheese options. Its clear y'all don't cook or look much into food science if you don't understand why certain items like cheese and bread have the sodium content they do.
And much of this is without discussing the economic impact of low shelf life foods with little to no preservatives will have on poor folks.
Lol @ preservatives, it’s not 1722, it’s 2022, there are plenty of preservatives beyond salt. And the attempt to frame salt as a saving poor people’s lives when hypertension is ravaging them due to shytty quality food. Man stop
Thank you for the correction.Misleading. Salt intake (used by UK) and sodium intake (used by US) aren't exactly the same. Sodium is about 40% of salt's weight.
So the UK target of 8.1g salt is equivalent to about 3.1g of sodium. Don't use the
And that number is still significantly higher than us recommendedations.
The point still holds.
The point isn't that. The point is if people follow the food recommendedations set forth by the government they will live a healthy life and be well below the recommendations set forth by the study.
The fact remains, people who are consuming too much sodium either a.) choose to consume foods high in sodium or b.) choose to add additional salt to food.
As far as the last tidbit you're framing it as though Americans have no choice but to eat fast food and high sodium foods.
There are option and people CHOOSE to either be ignorant on the subject or disregard it.
Thank you for the correction.
And that number is still significantly higher than us recommendedations.
The point still holds.
It's a little higher than the US recommendations, but still lower than what most people actually consume in a day.
But the actual issue isn't the recommendations, it's actually getting people in the food industry to use less salt. If you're serious about reducing heart attacks and strokes on a population level, then getting manufacturers to limit their sodium use is way more effective than shaming people for not cooking.
The government doesn't need to hand hold you throughout your life.
And food choices is one of these areas. The government alresdy works to lower sodium intake.
This is where we currently are.:
The FDA's Approach
To gradually reduce sodium across the food supply, the FDA is taking an iterative approach that includes establishing voluntary sodium targets for industry, monitoring and evaluating progress, and engaging with stakeholders.
Final Guidance
- The FDA issued the final guidance with voluntary targets for reducing sodium in commercially processed, packaged and prepared food over the next 2.5 years. The approach supports sodium reduction efforts already made by industry, provides common targets for defining and measuring progress, and provides companies with the flexibility and time to meet these targets.
- The FDA's approach encourages a level playing field by setting voluntary targets for both processed and restaurant foods.
- To achieve a significant impact, the FDA is especially encouraging adoption by food manufacturers whose products make up a significant proportion of national sales in one or more categories and restaurant chains that are national and regional in scope.
Voluntary Targets
- There are 16 overarching categories with individual sodium targets for 163 subcategories of food in recognition that a one-size approach does not fit all.
- The targets in the final guidance are designed to support decreasing average daily sodium intake by about 12 percent—from approximately 3,400 milligrams (mg) to 3,000 mg.
- The targets take into consideration the many functions of sodium in food, including taste, texture, microbial safety and stability. The targets do not address naturally occurring sodium or salt that individuals add to their food.
Next Steps
- The FDA will monitor the sodium content of the food supply, evaluate progress towards achieving the targets in the final guidance and engage with stakeholders on sodium reduction efforts and the targets.
- Based on that information, the FDA expects to issue revised subsequent targets in the next few years to facilitate a gradual, iterative process to reduce sodium intake.
What changes do you think need to be added to this?
Is it merely making it mandatory?
UK government pressed to make salt reduction targets on food companies mandatory
The UK government must force the industry to reduce the amount of salt put on foods, say campaigners.
www.foodnavigator.com
dora_da_destroyer
Master Baker
It’s not just fast food, we use too much sodium in all food. You make a sandwich to take to work, that’s easily hitting 800-1000mg of sodium because it’s overused in every ingredient except produce. Average food consumption (ie not extremely healthy or terrible) would make it hard to stay under 2300mg/day. I mean they pump salt water into meat FFS, you’re starting your home cooked meal with sodium you ain’t even expecting. No, the average person is not going to know that nor figure out how to account for it.The point isn't that. The point is if people follow the food recommendedations set forth by the government they will live a healthy life and be well below the recommendations set forth by the study.
The fact remains, people who are consuming too much sodium either a.) choose to consume foods high in sodium or b.) choose to add additional salt to food.
As far as the last tidbit you're framing it as though Americans have no choice but to eat fast food and high sodium foods.
There are option and people CHOOSE to either be ignorant on the subject or disregard it.
And lol @ guidelines, so now we’re going to pretend that Americans know what an actual serving size is? This idealism in how people should operate sounds just like our progressive friends whose solutions are based on acting in an ideal state. How many people have you seen measure out 2/3c of cereal in the morning vs just pouring a bowl full? Ahh yes, follow the guidelines
What changes do you think need to be added to this?
Is it merely making it mandatory?
UK government pressed to make salt reduction targets on food companies mandatory
The UK government must force the industry to reduce the amount of salt put on foods, say campaigners.
Actually I think it's a good start.
It's a new FDA program so it'll take a few years to see if it works as well as the one in the UK. If voluntary limits actually work I'm fine with those, but if they fail to actually get companies to comply then I think mandatory limits should be on the table, at least for some foods. Like somebody else said you can always add salt if you want.
dora_da_destroyer
Master Baker
It’s honestly nothing to say that one serving of an item shouldn’t be more than 20% of the DV of sodium. Go buy a soup that’s ~25% of your sodium per serving and buy one that’s 40% (the norm) and you’ll see there’s no reason for it to be 40%, you want it that salty, then add it yourself. But baseline, one serving of one food (item) shouldn’t ever need to be more than 20% of your sodium intake. Just like sugar, once you pull back, you’ll realize just how little salt is needed to impart taste and we know preservatives ain’t the issue. These choices are made because companies don’t care and sickness has become big business in America
I'm grabbing a sandwich from the cafeteria at work right now. Let me fatsecret it:
- Whole wheat potato bread: 210mg
- Sliced tomatoes: 9mg
- Boars head no salt turkey: 110mg
- Bacon: 260mg
- Boar's head low sodium provolone: 75mg
- Mayo
: 75mg - Mustard: 56mg
- Lettuce: 6mg
- Red onion: 3mg
Thinking of what I have at home let's compare:
- same bread: 210mg
- tomatoes: 9mg
- roasted chicken thigh: 180mg
- fresh mozz: 40mg
- lettuce: 6mg
- Duke's mayo
: 75mg - horseradish mayo 45mg
- red onion: 3mg
The big difference here was probably just the bacon and the office has heather choices than maybe a deli where you'd have to guess would push it over 1k.
Seems doable if it's something you care about
I'll be a bit facetious here, but based on social media everyone has a food scale bento boxes at home
.On a more serious note, Americans should be educated on portion sizes (CUP, TABLESPOON, 1/2 container etc) and there should be a food scale at home if you're concerned about your intake.
But if the argument is we shouldn't trust guidelines and it's impossible because Americans aren't going to just eat the 350 calorie serving of ice cream and eat the entire 1050 calorie container then, yes, guidelines are useless. If that's the case then I'm not sure how much cutting the sodium in packaged/processed foods by 10-15% is going to matter when people are going to eat 2 or 3 servings every time.
But all of this takes me back to my original position. Much of this can be accomplished just by being aware of what you're eating and how much of it you're eating.
dora_da_destroyer
Master Baker
it makes a big difference....it's the difference between that can of chicken noodle soup being 80% of your sodium as opposed to 40%...I'm not sure how much cutting the sodium in packaged/processed foods by 10-15% is going to matter when people are going to eat 2 or 3 servings every time.
But all of this takes me back to my original position. Much of this can be accomplished just by being aware of what you're eating and how much of it you're eating.
reality is people aren't aware and even if they are, what are their alternatives? there's absolutely nothing wrong with capping the sodium per serving, it's much easier to do that vs expecting 300M people to all of a suddenly track mg of sodium when they can't even track calories. not sure why this is seeing as an absurd ask...as i keep saying, there's just no reason for the amount of salt in things
I agree that they're too salty. People have other choices.
I don't think it's an absurd ask for people to use the resources available to them to make healthier life decisions.
How much sodium reduction would you like to see? What is a realistic number to you?
