April 23rd, 2010

Reports the Wall Street Journal:

Get ready for an assault on salt.

Packaged food and restaurant meals may face federal limits on sodium, following a report Tuesday from the Institute of Medicine that said high-salt diets are putting Americans at risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.

The institute, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences whose findings have significant influence on health policy decisions, said the Food and Drug Administration should set mandatory national standards for sodium content.

The FDA was more cautious, saying a federal working group will look into ways of cutting salt but that the agency hasn’t started working on such regulations. Separately, the White House is meeting with food-industry representatives on a voluntary plan, according to an Obama administration official.

However the details work out, consumers are likely to see significant reductions in sodium content in coming years. General Mills Inc., Kraft Foods Inc. and other companies have pledged to rework their products in response to the dangers posed by salt.

New York City is asking food sellers to voluntarily cut their sodium contents by 25% over five years.

“It is a very complicated, technical challenge for our food scientists to execute this,” said Susan Crockett, vice president and senior technology officer at General Mills, which makes Yoplait yogurt and Cheerios cereal among other products. “What you want to do is reduce the sodium so the taste is good enough and the consumer doesn’t add salt with the shaker.”

Find out more.