Major food manufacturers pledge to cut salt content

Friday, November 26, 2010 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: salt, food manufacturers, health news

(NaturalNews) Six major food companies recently agreed to sign on to the National Salt Reduction Initiative (NSRI), a program that aims to cut salt content in packaged and restaurant foods by 20 percent over the next five years. Like cigarettes, sodium is the next major social vice being targeted because high levels of the processed variety contribute to various diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.

The NSRI program is the brainchild of the New York City Health Department, and its stated goal is to save the lives of thousands of people and cut healthcare costs by billions of dollars through reduced sodium intake. According to a recent CNN report, 32 local and state health departments and 25 other corporate partners have all signed on to the program, and six new companies recently joined the effort as well.

Butterball, for instance, plans to cut sodium content in its deli meat and hot dogs, while Delhaize, operator of various grocery and food market chains along the east coast of the U.S., plans to reduce salt content from its frozen pizzas, cereals, and butter. Heinz ketchup announced it will not only limit salt in its ketchup and sauce products, but also in its frozen pizzas and entrees. And Hostess said it will cut the salt content in several of its bread lines.

Of course, the processed salt used in most food products and natural sea and mineral salts are quite different from each other. The sodium chloride produced in labs is the type largely responsible for causing disease, while sea salt and other "full spectrum" salts are actually full of various trace minerals that support good health (https://www.naturalnews.com/028724_Himalayan_...).

Sources for this story include:

http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/2...

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/cardio/card...