Gov’t Tells Americans to Cut Down on Salt
- Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:16pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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WASHINGTON (AP) — The government is telling half of the U.S. population to drastically cut their daily salt intake.
That’s the advice to consumers – and the food industry – as the government issues new dietary guidelines, which are the recommendations behind the popular food pyramid.
For the first time, the Agriculture and Health and Human Services departments, which issue the guidelines every five years, are telling people who are 51 and older, all African-Americans and anyone suffering from hypertension, diabetes or chronic kidney disease to reduce daily sodium intake to little more than half a teaspoon.
That group includes about half of the population and those who are most at risk of having higher blood pressure due to sodium intake. For everyone else, the government continues to recommend about a teaspoon a day – 2,300 milligrams, or about one-third less than the average person usually consumes.
The assault on salt is aimed strongly at the food industry, which is responsible for the majority of sodium most people consume. Most salt intake doesn’t come from the shaker on the table; it’s hidden in foods such as breads, chicken and pasta.
It has long been known that too much sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure, stroke and other problems. But cutting the salt won’t be easy.
The prestigious Institute of Medicine has said it could take years for consumers to get used to the taste of a lower-salt diet. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the government is trying to be realistic while targeting the highest-risk groups.
“I think it‘s important for us to do this in a way that doesn’t create an immediate backlash,” he said. “If we fail to get our arms around the obesity epidemic, especially in our children, we’re going to see a significant increase in health care costs over time.”
Several large food companies have already introduced initiatives to cut sodium and introduced low-sodium alternatives, but it’s unclear if the industry will be able to cut enough to satisfy the new guidelines. The Food and Drug Administration has said it will pressure companies to take voluntary action before it moves to regulate salt intake.
Dr. Howard Koh, assistant secretary at the Health and Human Services Department, said food companies will have to make cuts for the reductions to work.
“Even the most motivated consumer can make only a certain amount of progress before it’s clear that we need extra support from the food industry,” Koh said.
Consumers still have some control. To reduce the risk of disease from high sodium intake, the guidelines say people should:
-Read nutrition labels closely and buy items labeled low in sodium.
-Use little or no salt when cooking or eating.
-Consume more fresh or home-prepared foods and fewer processed foods, so they know exactly what they are eating.
-Ask that salt not be added to foods at restaurants.
-Gradually reduce sodium intake over time to get used to the taste.
Other recommendations in the guidelines are similar to previous years – limit trans fats, reduce calorie intake from solid fats and added sugars, eat fewer refined grains and more whole grains, consume less than 300 mg per day of cholesterol. The guidelines also recommend eating less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fats – full-fat cheese and fatty meats, for example.
The government promotes these guidelines to consumers by using a symbolic pyramid. Introduced more than five years ago, it doesn’t specify recommended amounts of foods but directs people to a USDA website that details the guidelines. That replaced an old pyramid that specified what to eat after surveys showed that few people followed it.
Vilsack said USDA may come out with a new icon, but that won’t be for a few more months. For now, the government wants consumers to focus on the guidelines themselves.
He says the recommendations – coupled with efforts from industry and other government campaigns for healthy eating, such as first lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative – should bring about some change in the country’s diet.
“I don’t think it necessarily has to take a generation or two to see some progress,” he said.
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Comments (166)
DashRipRock
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 3:01pmNext thing you know
Report Post »they will be telling us not to drink and drive.
Highland
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 3:26pmThere’s no comparison whatsoever.
Report Post »DashRipRock
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 3:56pmThere is in HUMORVILLE
dont you know where humorville is?
or do you not have a sense of humor?
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 8:03pmNot when people we know have been killed by a drunk driver.
Report Post »pistol
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 3:00pmUh, I don’t think so. Nothing wrong with my health. If I have to buy rock salt and crush it up…then so be it!
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:52pmHey, an idea here: Maybe “they” are pulling all the salt off the shelves from us because it is “bad” for us so “they” can store it up for themselves to use on their french/FREEDOM fries in all the underground bunkers that are springing up all around the country? Whaddya think?
Report Post »roughneck.seay
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:50pmWell, people like me who actually WORK and sweat for a living need to put that sodium back into our bodies. Live and let live / die. How ever you want to look at it, it’s still nobodies buisness but my own.
Report Post »IronDioPriest
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:49pm“Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the government is trying to be realistic while targeting the highest-risk groups.”
The administration needs to knock it off with the violent rhetoric. They might incite the food Nazis to violence. Oh wait… they ARE the food Nazis.
Report Post »right-wing-waco
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:49pmIf Obama would ban beer, the lefties population would drop to zero.
Report Post »WatchingThePuppetShow
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:43pmDo you or they for that matter think salt is what is causing obesity? Anyone with half a brain knows the answer to that is no! How about all the cheap substitue crap the food mfg’s are shoving in the processed food. Such as High Fructose Corn Syrup…cheaper than real sugar but hugely responsible for so many health issues. Or how about MSG? Aspartame known to cause tumors along with multiple other health issues. But salt is the culprit…just more agenda bullsh&t shoveled our way from our fine representatives in Washington.
Report Post »AmericanStrega
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 7:34pmYou want to know what causes people to be fat? Sitting here reading blogs and not getting out and moving around burning off that fat. Yes, I’m also guilty of sitting here on my arse, but, I’ve lost over 65 pounds in 2 years. Don’t eat fast food. DOWN WITH McDONALDS! baa,ha,ha…………..
Report Post »mrmikejohnson
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:42pmSome government branch who’s not subject to the voters (like the EPA or FDA) will soon declare salt a deadly substance and regulate it’s use.
Report Post »henrythemexican
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:41pmI’m amazed that your people can turn something so benign as this into socialism and government control. TOO MUCH SALT IS BAD FOR YOU!
Report Post »Is that hard to understand!!???
Showtime
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:45pmHenry, we understand that our schools are better than those in Mexico, okay? But we AMERICANS are used to being SELF-RESPONSIBLE. I don’t use salt anymore, only rarely. I like the taste of food without it, but I understand that the iodine in it is essential.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:51pmHenry, I have a copy of the Constitution on my desk and read it more frequently than I pick up a salt shaker. I have not found anything in it that mentions government’s control over the amount of salt an American citizen puts on his or her plate. Does overreaching come to mind? Do you think an overreaching government is good for Americans and our freedom? Please read our Constitution! It is evident that our pudative president and Congressmen have not read it! Otherwise, Sen. Chuck Shumer would know what the three branches of government are.
There are actually FOUR branches of government. There are WE THE PEOPLE, the Judicial, Legislative, and Executive Branches. Only WE THE PEOPLE are not elected either directly or indirectly.
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:52pmand its amaing you need the government to tell you that
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY……………….IS THAT TO HARD TO COMPREHEND?
Report Post »Lloyd Drako
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 3:22pmIf you are amazed, you must be new here!
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 8:14pmHenry, you must be here illegally. You said “Mexican” instead of “American from Mexico” or “Henry the Legal Mexican Immigrant.”
Report Post »country_hick
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:40pmTater Tots and now salt? From my cold, dead fingers…
Report Post »AmericanStrega
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 7:29pmAmen love, AMEN!
Report Post »Mick
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:38pmIn Soviet America, salt shake you.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:37pmAnd regulation of the salt on my plate entitles the government to what other regulations?
When I was pregnant with my first child, the doctor took me off salt. Result? I learned that food tastes good without it. Even now at 70, I use very little salt. Iodine is put into salt to ensure that people get enough, which is the ONLY reason I use it occasionally.
What happened to letting people be responsible for themselves? Both my parents are dead and gone, but they taught me to be responsible for myself. Perhaps the American people should bog down the Progressives by calling those congressmen and asking, ” How much salt is too much?“ ”How much salt should I put into a pot of soup?“ ”Will a Salty Dog kill me?“ ”I heard sugar is bad for me; should I put salt on grapefruit or not?“ ”Where in the Constitution is salt mentioned?” — And other questions, and request a response from the congressman him/herself. Maybe we can slow this train to socialism down!
States have the authority to nullify an overreaching federal law. Many people have forgotten this!
Report Post »megansmom
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 3:00pmI was put on a low sodium diet for health reasons and guess what the choice was mine to follow. Just by cutting out prepackaged and canned foods and learned to cook fresh. That does taste better, but occasionly, I like a frozen pizza or dinner.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 7:35pm@MegansMom –
You are another person who is responsible for your health.
Let me see — I am 70 years old. I smoke, have 31 years without alcohol, am 5′11″, weigh 155 lbs, and am on no medication except for generic Claratin for seasonal allergies, do not have high blood pressure (have normal low blood pressure, as my mother did), and RARELY get sick. So, why is the government standing over my plate?! When my watchband gets tight, my brain tells me to lose weight. When my watchband slips around my wrist, I make sure to put a pound or two back on.
A watchband is all anyone really needs!!!
Report Post »ShyLow
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:36pmStart your own health food business if you want to give people healthy food.-.Start your own health insurance company if you find the others too greedy.-.Become a doer not a dictator
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:35pmAre some of you having problems with your posts not posting?
I saw my post on here and then went on to other articles, and came back to this one, only to see my post was no longer here. Is something “strange” going on, or is it just me?
Report Post »StIves
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:41pmYou are correct. Something strange is going on not only on this site but others as well.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:41pmI don’t know, “Kicka,“ but I have noticed that when I click ”Reply,“ the box sometime shows up with ”SPEAK YOUR MIND“ instead of ”LEAVE A REPLY TO ______________.” That tends to move things around a bit. I’ve learned to check the instruction above the box before I start typing.
Report Post »Ron Morris
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 6:57pmI have had the same thing happen,Here we go America,our Obama is now in control of our Internet!!!!!!!!
Report Post »neverending
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 10:05pmI do believe you are right.
Report Post »RightUnite
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:32pmHey Government…. Kiss my *ss! How ’bout that???
Report Post »Bullcop34
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:43pmThey can’t, if you sweat too much you could have an over abundance of salt on that cheek!
Report Post »RightUnite
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:46pmDang! I forgot about that! My bad!
Report Post »right-wing-waco
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:31pmHere we go again. More orders from Washington. Yes, Master, whatever you say! Can I still have eggs? How about beer, or is that banned too?
Stock up people. Food, ammo, salt.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:39pm@RIGHT-WING-WACO ~~~ FRENCH FRIES (aka FREEDOM FRIES)
Report Post »armorbearer
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 5:43pmDon’t forget junk food! Before Obama seizes it all for his hidden stash he keeps secret from Michelle!
Report Post »AmericanStrega
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 7:26pmDon’t forget the BEER!
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:28pmControls on salt is an attempt to increase tax. Taxation without representation.
Report Post »BIGDAN63
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:27pmthey started with global warming (Gorecare) then it was healthcare (Obamacare), then it was gun control ( and for the slow minded people out there, its not the gun killing people, its the morons doing it), and now we have the USDA telling us how to eat (MichelleObamacare) someone please wake me up from this nightmare
Report Post »AZBabe
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:27pmAlso, since when is Michelle obama an expert on nutrititon…did she get some magic expertise when her husband won he election…last time I checked she went to law school and didn’t do so well at that either, they revoked their licenses in Illinois.
Report Post »paulamadden
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:26pmThe buttinskys need to butt out!
Report Post »TennesseeConservative
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 8:00pmYou got that stuff right. But Obama knows all, he told me so while we were taking a smoke break.
Report Post »StIves
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:25pmI have logged onto this website since Glenn introduced it. For the past 3 weeks it has been filled with nothing but garbage and isn’t refreshed for sometimes days. Going to find another internet news source, sorry Glenn not sure what exactly is going on but you need to get your hands around whatever the issue is. Maybe get the ‘old’ guys back?
Report Post »Buck Bagaw
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 3:31pmWe’re not just talking about salt here, it’s about out of control government intrusion, and the lengths they will go to control our lives. If you’re to dense to see through the wisecracks into the real issues maybe you should CHUG ON OVER TO NAMBY-PAMBY LAND AND GET YOURSELF SOME COMMON SENSE! JACKWAGON!!
Report Post »That felt good. Yes it did.
streetrodder
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 5:00pmDon’t let the mouse hit you in the rear end on the way out.
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 6:24pmBte Stives…Take some ******** with you…
Report Post »AmericanStrega
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 7:24pmGoodbye! Don’t let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya!
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 7:53pmSometimes garbage news is all there is. The idea is to keep us informed by entertaining us — while delivering the message that the government is trying to control every aspect of our lives…piece by piece, grain of salt by grain of salt, regulation by regulation,government school classroom by government school classroom.
When something breaks, it will be here, too.
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 7:57pmMay I point out to you that it was Jonathan Seidl who broke the news here today about the ObamaCare being deemed unconstitutional in its entirety? You don‘t think you’re going to get REAL news from the lamestream media, do you?
If Blenn Beck likes TheBlaze, WE like TheBlaze! You still have the freedom to either change channels or stay tuned. How’s MSNBC going for you?
Report Post »AZBabe
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:25pmStay the heck out of my life and my kitchen…I will eat whatever the heck I want! Isn‘t it interesting that when a woman wants to kill her baby it’s her body, but when she wants to eat salt on her french fries, it’s the govmints?
Report Post »PA-FuBo
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:44pmAmen AZBabe to both points……
As a Chef I say…”DON’T TOUCH MY JUNK ….food!!!.”
My argument for the choice side is ( when playing devil’s advocate),
Well, if a woman has 9 month before Birth to decide……They should have 9 months AFTER Birth to kill their baby as well. I mean like, it’s the same difference…Right?
It’s great to watch them defend their position after that……
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:54pmROFLMAO (at the government)! Leave it to an Arizonian to put two and two together and come up with the RIGHT answer!
Babe, I think Obama/Soetoro hates y’all! Too much intelligence is developing from having to survive this regime’s fight for control!
Report Post »jamesctheman
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 4:06pmI like salt. I have some. It’s pretty good. If you pressure companies to take it out of our food then I’m going to grab my shaker & add it in myself. Will the FDA make that a crime as well? Will I have to show i.d. like for my wifes allergy medicine? Will they keep it behind the counter or pull it out of grocery stores all together? Now I’m giving them ideas & I have to leave & stock up right now. Can you buy salt by the ton?
Report Post »LibertyOrDeath
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:22pmGov‘t has no business telling me what I should or shouldn’t put in my body.
Report Post »knotaclu
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:50pmand the American people responded, Mr. Govt please cut down on telling us what to do…..
Report Post »texasfarmer
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:17pmThey would rather have you cut down on oxygen.
Report Post »BIGDAN63
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:30pmthats part of the program AlGoreCare (global warming) thats a farce in its self, private plans, limo’s running while they wait for him to come out.
Report Post »saneasylum
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 11:56pmWith all the problems in the world and there worried about freakin SALT… GOD HELP US ALL !!!
Report Post »->Click for online job<-
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:17pmPlease sir can I have some more salt.
Report Post »HillBillySam1
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:22pmThey can have my salt shaker when they pry it from my dead, cold, obese, swollen hands…….!!!!
Report Post »Curator_JDR
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:24pmThat is so caring of the nanny state. With every world issue to focus on, they are concerned about lil‘ ole’ me. If I disobey their sodium directive, perhaps they will even furnish me with three hots and a cot.
This animated satire exposes the insanity of the Progressives with big time humor and gives us a new image (weapon) to mock the Progs. the “head-up-the-butt” people. http://www.marcrubin.com/hairmerica.ivnu
Report Post »myfamily04
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:27pmThis is sooo insane! It is our bodies and our FREEDOM to put into our bodies what ever we want to.
Report Post »These nut jobs or democRATS have got to go or at least get some common sense!
mimitweetin
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:39pmHow bout the Government Shut the Hell up and mind their own business! 46 years old and weigh 107 for the last 30 years and I’m healthy as a horse. So I don’t need FAT PEOPLE telling me how to eat!
Report Post »cnsrvtvj
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:42pmI just love it when the government tells me what to eat. We have Michelle out there telling us that we can’t leave it up to the parents. She also said nutrition was a national security issue. You just wait until Obama-care takes full effect. Every detail of our lives can then be tied into health.
http://www.donsmithshow.com – conservative news and political humor
Report Post »biggreenboo
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:53pmThank you “hillbilly”… still laughing!!!!!!
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 2:58pmFederal court has ruled Healthcare mandate unconsitutional AGAIN. Don’t have the details yet…..
Report Post »Dandylyon
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 3:01pmYOU FIRST MICHELLE!! you bottomfeeder,STOP with the pork and lead by example.
You moron’s bring crap up like this like you really think this country has future enough to worry about fat people.
What a joke this administration has become,what’s next?
Report Post »JohnnyRocket
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 3:07pmI say, “Cut down on Obama rhetoric – much more satisfying!”
Report Post »Highland
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 3:26pmThey worry about this while Egypt burns. Go figure.
Report Post »Dustyluv
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 4:02pmTwo letters F U
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 4:08pmOh God above, now will we have a Salt CZAR to save us from the ravages of Salt?
Report Post »chazman
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 4:29pmOh wait, government … how ’bout you get the HELL OUT OF MY LIFE!!!
Report Post »Cobra Blue
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 4:33pmThank you but I’ll determine if I want to use more or less salt .OR ANY FOOD PRODUCT FOR THAT MATTER THANK YOU VERY MUCH. See its none of your DAMN business.
Report Post »123gone
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 5:46pmI’m damned tired of these jerks taking my tax dollars to research common sense, and then trying to tell me what to eat and how to live my life. And that goes for the little pink pony they rode in on !!
Report Post »waggie
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 6:14pmPssssttttt! I think someone needs to tell the federal government that we’re big boys and girls now and we do know that too much salt is bad for us. Some of us don’t care and so we overdo it. But, know what? THAT’S OUR CHOICE!
Report Post »Fantastic Four
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 7:32pmI am FATY from salt and the GOV. is fat with TAXES how about you cut 1/3rd…. Yeah I thought so.
Report Post »tower7femacamp
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 7:53pmHow about cutting down on the toxic Sodium Fluoride you force into our water ?
Report Post »DisillusionedDaily
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 8:14pmIf it tried real hard, I am quite sure the government could find something more important to turn it’s attention to. I am getting pretty fed up with the manor in which the government is trying to control every aspect of my life! I will state my displeasure on November 6, 2012.
Report Post »jbh
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 9:44pmHello DC anybody listening? You have gone to far in the last thirty or so years. Time to get a life and do the people’s will. Stop spending and cut government in half. And then and only then you can ask nicely about the salt problem you think we have. Thanks
Report Post »drphil69
Posted on January 31, 2011 at 11:27pmGov’t Tells Americans to Cut Down on Salt
Americans Tell Gov’t to Cut Down on Spending
Report Post »KICKILLEGALSOUT
Posted on February 1, 2011 at 1:30amHow about the government cut down on telling me what to do and shut their Commie mouths!
Report Post »JustMe11
Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:21amIf we don’t start becoming independent of our government edicts – now – we will find them taking away much more than our right to salt!
Report Post »AlanG543
Posted on February 1, 2011 at 11:41pmHey geniuses at what ever government agency that thought this up; It doesn’t matter how much salt you intake as long as you intake a comparable amount of potassium. Please do a little research and consult a nutritionist first.
Report Post »