General

U.S. food authorities target salt

Voluntary cuts now. Mandatory later?

For three decades the non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest has campaigned for Americans to eat less salt. In the last few years, the drum beat from health researchers against salt has increased, as studies blame ingesting too much for 90,000 preventable deaths in the U.S. a year and $18 billion in spending to treat conditions like high blood pressure. Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced a far-reaching plan to cut the amount of salt Americans consume. The FDA will start by pushing the food industry to make voluntary cutbacks. Regulating acceptable levels of sodium in processed food could follow. The head of the salt lobby (yes, there is one) lashed out, of course. So did libertarians. Is salt the new nicotine?

L.A. Times

Looking for more?

Get the Best of Maclean's sent straight to your inbox. Sign up for news, commentary and analysis.
  • By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.