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posted by martyb on Saturday October 16 2021, @05:48PM   Printer-friendly
from the iodine? dept.

Sweeping FDA guidance would drastically cut salt in American foods:

The Food and Drug Administration is asking food manufacturers and restaurants to cut the salt in their products over the coming 2½ years, hoping to reduce Americans' overall sodium intake by 12 percent.

The sweeping recommendation, announced Wednesday, is expected to cover a wide variety of foods — from chain restaurant meals to processed food on grocery store shelves and even baby food.

"What we'd like to see is the food industry gradually lower the sodium content" in the most common foods, Dr. Janet Woodcock, the acting FDA commissioner, told NBC News.

The goal, Woodcock said, is to slash rates of heart disease, the country's No. 1 killer. Reducing sodium in the diet ultimately "would have a major impact on hypertension, heart disease and stroke," she said.

Current dietary guidelines recommend that adults consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day. That equates to about one teaspoon of table salt.

But the average person in the U.S. consumes about 3,400 mg of sodium a day,according to the FDA. The majority of that comes from processed foods, not table salt.

"We recognize that cutting down on sodium in your diet is hard to do on your own, because about 70 percent of the sodium we eat comes from processed, packaged and prepared foods," Susan Mayne, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition said on a media call Wednesday.

The new recommendations aim to cut the average salt intake by 12 percent, down to 3,000 mg a day, Woodcock said. That is the equivalent of consuming 60 fewer teaspoons of salt a year.


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  • (Score: 4, Funny) by MIRV888 on Saturday October 16 2021, @05:53PM (18 children)

    by MIRV888 (11376) on Saturday October 16 2021, @05:53PM (#1187525)

    Taking away freedoms from businesses/ corporations is just plain wrong.

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @06:00PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @06:00PM (#1187527)
      • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Sunday October 17 2021, @02:24AM (1 child)

        by Reziac (2489) on Sunday October 17 2021, @02:24AM (#1187629) Homepage

        I can't find it again offhand but about a year ago I read a metastudy in one of the major medical journals, on this very topic, that pulled together decades of data from hundreds of thousands of patients.

        Turned out that low sodium diets had worse mortality in the hypertension/heart disease cluster than did high sodium diets. The difference was that low sodium mortality was a long tail, while high sodium mortality was a steep increase. Conversely, lowest mortality was in the range of moderate sodium intake, at or slightly above 2000mg/day.

        Sodium is an essential nutrient; you can't live without it. Makes sense that reducing it too far isn't beneficial.

        --
        And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
        • (Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Monday October 18 2021, @02:05AM

          by hendrikboom (1125) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 18 2021, @02:05AM (#1187847) Homepage Journal

          lowest mortality was in the range of moderate sodium intake, at or slightly above 2000mg/day

          which is close to the recommended dietary intake mentioned in the article.

          Let people put their own salt in, instead of force-feeding it to them in packaged prepared foods.

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by jelizondo on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:15PM (11 children)

      by jelizondo (653) Subscriber Badge on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:15PM (#1187545) Journal

      Please, think before posting. Someone other than the producer should check that whatever they are selling is not dangerous or downright poisonous and that someone should be the government.

      The FDA [wikipedia.org] exists to protect the people (yes, we the people) from unscrupulous manufacturers that would not think twice to sell you poison and call it good for you.

      Businesses and corporations should NOT be free to sell shit just because it is profitable.

      • (Score: 1, Troll) by MostCynical on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:45PM (8 children)

        by MostCynical (2589) on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:45PM (#1187552) Journal

        But if people are injured or die after using or eating your product, others won't buy it, so the market will sort it out. Isn't that the true 'free market'?

        --
        "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
        • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:18PM (5 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:18PM (#1187560)

          People aren't dying because of the sodium content. They're dying because of a lack of health care and access to nutritious food. Removing sodium won't make a difference and may just increase the deaths from insufficient sodium levels during the summer.

          • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @09:08PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @09:08PM (#1187570)
            They're dying of heart disease because they're lazy blobs who spend their time scrolling on Facebook. Get enough exercise on a regular basis and a shitty diet won't matter - what you eat will be converted to fuel instead of stored as fat, and you're gonna need more salt to replace what you lose in sweating.

            NOTE: Does not apply to PeopleOfWalmart and other obese pigs, who would work up a seeat getting from their SUV to their mobility scooter with their oxygen tank in tow to pick up a dozen cartons of cigarettes and a dozen cases of 48 Snickers.

          • (Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @03:00PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @03:00PM (#1187730)

            I think it's interesting how this got modded down, but it's completely right and nobody has posted anything to suggest otherwise. It's nice to know that ignorant people still get mod points around here. Personally, I prefer to go with actual science as in sodium is an essential component of a diet and just cut back on the twinkies, ho-hos and get some freaking exercise along with some vegetables. But hey, that's just me.

          • (Score: 2) by Mykl on Sunday October 17 2021, @10:28PM (2 children)

            by Mykl (1112) on Sunday October 17 2021, @10:28PM (#1187803)

            Americans getting insufficient sodium - HA!

            These regulations are about bringing the levels down from heart-attack material to more normal (compared to actual civilized western countries). Nobody said anything about eliminating sodium - even TFS explicitly says it's about lowering the current levels.

            • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @02:26PM (1 child)

              by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @02:26PM (#1188001)

              I take it you never learned to read, my post says no such thing. Just because you're an ignorant moron doesn't change facts. There's no reason to recommend that the general public cut their salt down when there isn't a problem. And recommending cuts for no reason is going to increase the share of people with inadequate levels to deal with the sodium that gets sweated out or peed out. That's just what happens when you lower recommendations for essential nutrients. As of right now, not everybody does consume too much for their body to handle, some of us don't have much of a taste for salt, I'll have to drink literal salt water in the summer because I don't typically seek it out. I've already going to the ICU once because of inadequate levels, I'm not doing that again.

              The reality is that unless you've got high blood pressure and swelling or obesity, there's precisely no reason to cut back on sodium and plenty of reasons not to. Your brain literally cannot operate without sodium. Well, I say your brain, but it's pretty clear that it's not functioning if you're making that kind of stupid response.

              • (Score: 2) by Mykl on Monday October 18 2021, @10:29PM

                by Mykl (1112) on Monday October 18 2021, @10:29PM (#1188198)

                Go and re-read your post. You explicitly talk about removing sodium. TFA talks about not adding extra sodium. There's a big difference. I won't hold my breath for your apology.

                Your individual anecdote is interesting, but nationally, the US has a salt problem [heart.org].

        • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @02:16AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @02:16AM (#1187628)

          But if people are injured or die after using or eating your product, others won't buy it, so the market will sort it out. Isn't that the true 'free market'?

          Well that explains why smoking completely died out years ago.

        • (Score: 3, Touché) by mcgrew on Monday October 18 2021, @06:52PM

          by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Monday October 18 2021, @06:52PM (#1188128) Homepage Journal

          I think Officer Poe just arrested you for breaking his law.

          --
          mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:16PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:16PM (#1187559)

        I'll believe in that when they become advisory rather than proscriptive, and when the DEA becomes a purity and compliance enforcement arm of the FDA.

        Until then, they can all merrily fuck the fuck off out of our fucking lives, and give their budget back to paying off the insane national debt, to the unmixed benefit of all.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @12:26AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @12:26AM (#1187618)

        The FDA exists to collect kickbacks from the companies so the executive level employees of the FDA can get rich. In return, the FDA gives the businesses "official permission" to throw whatever shit (sometimes literally) they want into what they sell to the public.

        To keep their hustle going, the FDA will protect the unscrupulous manufacturers (that do not think twice to sell you poison and call it good for you) from the people. So are all the other government departments.

        Business and corporations will be free to sell shit as long as the gov gets their cut.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Tork on Sunday October 17 2021, @12:07AM (1 child)

      by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Sunday October 17 2021, @12:07AM (#1187613)
      I hope the people modding your comment down read your subject line. I'd also recommend you stop treating the subject line as a content line.
      --
      🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
      • (Score: 2) by MIRV888 on Tuesday October 19 2021, @06:29AM

        by MIRV888 (11376) on Tuesday October 19 2021, @06:29AM (#1188322)

        rgr rgr
        Thx for the advice. I will keep it in mind.
        Just trying to be concise.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @11:28PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @11:28PM (#1187819)

      Wasn't this part of the SALT Treaty?

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by fustakrakich on Saturday October 16 2021, @06:03PM (3 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Saturday October 16 2021, @06:03PM (#1187529) Journal

    Hmm, which industry has more clout with the FDA? Certainly not the salt mines

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
    • (Score: 1) by Zoot on Sunday October 17 2021, @02:06AM (2 children)

      by Zoot (679) on Sunday October 17 2021, @02:06AM (#1187627)

      Exactly. And guess what they're going to replace the missing salt with... More sugar!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @03:20PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @03:20PM (#1187735)

        Same goes for fat, often when you see a "low fat" product it might as well be a "high sugar" product as they add that in an effort to make it taste less like cardboard rather than just leaving the fat in.

      • (Score: 2) by mcgrew on Monday October 18 2021, @06:57PM

        by mcgrew (701) <publish@mcgrewbooks.com> on Monday October 18 2021, @06:57PM (#1188129) Homepage Journal

        I don't see how they could. They're putting sugar in corn and bacon now!

        --
        mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @06:14PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @06:14PM (#1187532)

    Why does everything need to have added sugar these days. Added sugar is horrible for you.

    • (Score: 2) by krishnoid on Saturday October 16 2021, @10:56PM

      by krishnoid (1156) on Saturday October 16 2021, @10:56PM (#1187593)

      There's a bunch of online resources about this, but one big one is that it makes things shelf-stable while preserving their edibility. Once (e.g.) robots can make your breakfast cereal on-site or at-home in the quantity you order directly from raw/frozen/dehydrated ingredients, this could be less of an issue.

    • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Tork on Sunday October 17 2021, @12:09AM (1 child)

      by Tork (3914) Subscriber Badge on Sunday October 17 2021, @12:09AM (#1187614)

      Why does everything need to have added sugar these days. Added sugar is horrible for you.

      I've always assumed it was to make the food more addictive. I grew up in the Saturday Cartoons era and I'm a little surprised I'm not diabetic right now.

      --
      🏳️‍🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️‍🌈
      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday October 17 2021, @11:57AM

        by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Sunday October 17 2021, @11:57AM (#1187706) Homepage
        There's a bit of that, certainly. Sometimes the sugar's added to cover up the salt that's been added, which is similarly addictive.

        Plenty more sugar-related, in particular dietary-policy-related, info here: /Sugar, The Bitter Truth/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @06:18PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @06:18PM (#1187535)
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @06:43PM (11 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @06:43PM (#1187541)

    Is there far too much salt in processed and restaurant food? Yes. Is the salt the biggest issue that makes processed and restaurant food unhealthy? Not by a long shot.

    If the FDA actually cared about the health of Americans they'd regulate added sugars. But oh no, we can't do that, because added sugars are almost always HFCS, and regulating HFCS would affect the corn industry. Gotta keep the blood money bribes campaign contributions from terrorists industry experts flowing in to the anti-American traitors elected officials who run the country.

    Also, we can't actually admit that the whole "eat fat = get fat" stupidity that started a number of decades ago was a load of horse shit put forward by a bunch of quacks. That's why there's so much added salt and sugar in everything. Fat = flavor. Remove the fat and you remove the flavor, making the food unpalatable. Salt and sugar are used to "fix" the flavorless "food." Ever notice that obesity wasn't the huge issue it is now before the "fat free" nonsense started?

    So be prepared to see added sugar content go up as more sugar is used to compensate for the lack of salt. The next several years will be fun to watch as lowering salt intake will appear to actually raise the rates of heart disease and other obesity-related illnesses. Because, again, we can't ever look at sugar as being a problem...

    • (Score: 5, Insightful) by bzipitidoo on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:51PM (7 children)

      by bzipitidoo (4388) on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:51PM (#1187554) Journal

      I agree that excessive sugar is the bigger problem.

      Nevertheless, American food has way too much salt. If you're in the US, try going low sodium for a few weeks, and really stick to it, which won't be easy. Then have some pizza from a pizza restaurant chain. You may be amazed how incredibly salty it will taste. Alas, you will quickly become desensitized and will soon no longer notice it. One day, perhaps less.

      • (Score: 4, Insightful) by RS3 on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:19PM (3 children)

        by RS3 (6367) on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:19PM (#1187561)

        > I agree that excessive sugar is the bigger problem.

        I'm not sure- I think it depends on the person. For me, salt is a huge problem, but sugar isn't. Forgive the soapbox rant, but there's a bit too much generalization in the world these days- the "one size fits all" approach to everything. Some people can eat a lot of salt for years, and for others, it's a hypertension induced trip to a hospital.

        My complaint about this whole thing is: why put so much salt in food in the first place? I understand it's sometimes used as preservative, but otherwise, salt is so cheap and plentiful- people can put their own salt on things. It's essentially impossible to remove it.

        • (Score: 4, Informative) by optotronic on Sunday October 17 2021, @02:35AM (1 child)

          by optotronic (4285) on Sunday October 17 2021, @02:35AM (#1187632)

          My complaint about this whole thing is: why put so much salt in food in the first place?

          I think that for most people, salt gives food more "flavor", so food producers add it to make their food more desirable. People get used to a level of salt, so more salt is need to make the food flavorful again. It's a vicious circle.

          As others have said, let the consumer add salt if needed. It can't (reasonably) be extracted and too much can cause hypertension long term.

          Some food producers offer "no salt added" versions of products, such as the canned tomatoes and canned mushrooms we buy. Most products offer no choice, however, so we make more meals from scratch. Whole foods are healthier anyway; it's harder for producers to muck it up.

          • (Score: 3, Interesting) by sjames on Sunday October 17 2021, @11:50PM

            by sjames (2882) on Sunday October 17 2021, @11:50PM (#1187825) Journal

            The thing is, it only takes a tiny amount of salt to fully develop the flavors of the rest of the food, and that amount doesn't really develop the flavor equivalent of tolerance. Adding more salt than that just makes the food salty.

            As you said, those who want it salty are free to add salt. Only that tiny amount needs to cook with the food to develop the flavor.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @02:45PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @02:45PM (#1188007)

          It definitely doesn't depend on the person. Sugar is just unhealthy and cutting it 100% out of your diet wouldn't have any negative impacts. Completely cutting it out would be pretty much impossible, but if we had a tool that could completely remove sugars from our diets, we wouldn't suffer at all. If you completely removed sodium, you'd be dead within a year and probably much quicker. There is no question about what's more dangerous.

          As far as sodium goes, the vast majority of the sodium in the food supply is as a flavor enhancer to encourage people to eat more or for airplane food to ensure that it tastes like something. Some is as a preservative, but the levels arent' as high as people would have you believe. They only seem high because the recommendations are so stupid.

          Yes, some people are sensitive to salt, but that can be said for pretty much everything else we eat and it's not that hard to avoid excessive amounts. There's a few highly processed food-like substances that account for the vast majority of the salt in a typical diet, get rid of them, and it's probably not a problem. In most cases, you're better off ensuring that you're drinking enough water and getting enough potassium rich foods to get things back into proper balance.

          Obviously, there are some people that legitimately need to cut back on sodium, just not anywhere near as many as doctors would have you believe. It's dangerous to pass around the lies that everybody is getting too much sodium when it's simply not true. If yo're not consuming enough to retain water and don't have hypertension, then there's no reason to even think about cutting back.
           

      • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:24PM (2 children)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:24PM (#1187564)

        I almost died from insufficient sodium levels one summer and I wasn't even being aggressive about cutting out the sodium. I just cut out a few of the worst offenders, mainly soda and soy sauce.

        There's no evidence to support cutting sodium levels for the general populace. A small number of people may benefit, but they likely would also benefit from cutting the junk food or increasing the potassium intake.

        • (Score: 1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @03:04PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @03:04PM (#1187731)

          I think it's interesting how big doctor has time to go around modding people for pointing out the truth. Hyponatremia is a very real issue and it can have extreme consequences over a short period of time where the brain starts to literally shut down because it doesn't have the ions necessary for neurons to fire.

          But, I'm sure that the money you're getting for shilling bad medical advice is worth it. Personally, I prefer to not die, or be left permanently disabled, from having insufficient sodium levels. But to each his own, I guess. Just don't expect me to pick up the tab on treatment.

        • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Monday October 18 2021, @02:02AM

          by acid andy (1683) on Monday October 18 2021, @02:02AM (#1187845) Homepage Journal

          I can't comment on the accuracy of your statements but I do want to say that a lot of these dietary guidelines are too simplistic. When I was young I was told over and over again "fat is bad for you," "salt is bad for you," and being a logical nerdy programmer, who was also much more trusting back then, I took the guidance at face value and consumed almost zero fat and very little salt. Later when my body was working like crap and all my joints were acting up I learnt to consume more of them and suddenly felt great. It's fucking irresponsible to put out such dumbed-down all-or-nothing messages, because some people actually have the self-discipline to follow them to the letter.

          --
          If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @02:05AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @02:05AM (#1187625)

      you should reall bold the dash when strikethru is applied, is it:
        * anti 'american traitors', or
        * 'anti american' traitors

      • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday October 17 2021, @12:04PM

        by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Sunday October 17 2021, @12:04PM (#1187708) Homepage
        I see the dash. The author of the text isn't responsible for your choice of rendering engine, you are, stop trying to offload the blame.
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @03:53PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @03:53PM (#1188045)

      Is there far too much salt in processed and restaurant food? Yes. Is the salt the biggest issue that makes processed and restaurant food unhealthy? Not by a long shot.

      Ya know, it's possible to tackle two problems at once. Just sayin'.

  • (Score: 0, Troll) by fustakrakich on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:16PM (2 children)

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:16PM (#1187546) Journal

    Is that why all the industry hate? This is truly propaganda. Regulation of salt always does more harm than good [wikipedia.org], which is usually the real intent, especially in light of the really harmful things in our diets that get a pass for strictly financial reasons.

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:29PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:29PM (#1187549)

      Well, you can't make salt from corn, and there's only so much pork.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @02:49PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @02:49PM (#1188010)

      It is, but that's not why it's being added to foods. If it were being added as a sanitizer and food preserver, we'd be seeing the levels being stable or even reducing as food preservation technology has improved greatly over time.

      It's being added primarily as a flavor enhancer and appetite stimulant. It's part of why you see new recipes coming out with more salt replacing the old ones, but the low sodium replacements usually are sold along side the previous recipe.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:36PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:36PM (#1187550)

    Where's the evidence that cutting sodium by that much is really that healthy?

    Lots of those people in those groups famous for living long ( https://time.com/5160475/blue-zones-healthy-long-lives/ [time.com] ) aren't really having very low salt diets (e.g. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heart-health/pour-salt-new-research-suggests-more-ok-n179941

    My guess is if you're not salt sensitive or downing more than 5g of salt, a better balanced potassium to sodium ratio and having some moderate exercise would be more important for health. Those Okinawans are consuming lots of potassium (from their high plant diets - e.g. sweet potatoes).

    If you still need to lower blood pressure try this exercise daily or every other day: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210630135033.htm [sciencedaily.com]

    • (Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:28PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:28PM (#1187565)

      There's basically none. It was one study of 6 patients in France decades ago. At most sodium levels have become a marker of generally bad diet as it's added to most processed foods, but potassium and other related compounds aren't.

      There's a balance between sodium and potassium that needs to be respected or bad things happen. Arguably increasing potassium in food would make more sense.

      • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Sunday October 17 2021, @02:33AM (1 child)

        by Reziac (2489) on Sunday October 17 2021, @02:33AM (#1187631) Homepage

        I mention above a big-ass metastudy that found moderate sodium intake had overall lower mortality than either low or high intake (and too low was worse than too high). And yes, potassium balance is part of the equation. Given that slightly increasing potassium intake can control high blood pressure -- it occurs to me that the benefit to HBP patients may not be in removing the sodium, but rather that most then substitute potassium salt for sodium salt.

        --
        And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
        • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @03:11PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @03:11PM (#1187733)

          The lower recommendations in Europe start at our high-end recommendations and go up from there. Sodium intake is just not a good predictor of much of anything. It's a bit like cholesterol, yes it can cause issues, but you can't measure it on the way in, or in the case of cholesterol how much is in the blood stream, and make predictions on that alone. It just doesn't work that way. The more sodium you're passing through urine or sweat, the more you need to consume just to maintain decent levels.

          A doctor almost killed me, prescribing a waterpill that stripped what little sodium I had in my bloodstream out because he was too lazy to check to see if I had too much in my body because everybody consumes too much salt. I stopped taking it within a day or two as it was clearly doing something horrible to my brain, as I started to get extreme issues with memory and focus that magically went away when I stopped taking the pills.

          Sodium levels being generally too high is simply not true, it's a bit like osteoporosis affecting 25% of the population, it affects 25% of the population because that's how it's defined. By definition, it's the 25% of the population with the weakest bones, so of course it's going to affect 25% of the population at any given time.

          The whole idea that recommending that people in general cut sodium levels is weak, at best. You see this kind of junk science coming out regularly hitting things like cholesterol and recommending then discouraging alcohol intake. There's no reason for the average person to be changing their intake of any of those things based on the research we have right now, unless they themselves have a condition that dictates doing so. In this case, if you aren't retaining water, and you don't have hypertension, then there's no reason to cut back on it.

  • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:46PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:46PM (#1187553)

    I like to lick it and stick it

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:21PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:21PM (#1187562)

      That's nice. Now, do you have something pertinent to contribute to the conversation?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @09:06PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @09:06PM (#1187569)

        Well, it probably does taste salty.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @12:19AM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @12:19AM (#1187616)

          Bugger off, spamboy! That is the last hint you get from me.

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:57PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @07:57PM (#1187556)

    But the Democrats don't... tell me again who's the repressive regime? Hint: The Taliban doesn't use mounted policemen to whip away refugee claimants.

    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:22PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:22PM (#1187563)

      The Taliban doesn't use mounted policemen to whip away refugee claimants.

      How many Haitians are trying to get into Afghanistan?

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @04:11PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @04:11PM (#1188060)

      But the Democrats don't.

      The Democrats are not telling you that you can't eat salt. That is your own paranoid fantasy. These are voluntary recommendations published by the FDA. And, contrary to the alarmist headline, these recommendations are not "drastic". The recommendations are for a 10% reduction over 2.5 years.

      tell me again who's the repressive regime?

      The Taliban. Pay attention!

      Hint: The Taliban doesn't use mounted policemen to whip away refugee claimants.

      As far as I know, Afghanistan has not had any problem with refugee claimants of any sort flooding across the border into their country. And, just so you know, the Taliban are well-known for using whips (and knives and swords) as a means of punishment. Hint: women in Kabul are finding it near impossible to leave their home and go about their daily lives without a male relative in tow. Just so you know.

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday October 18 2021, @05:08PM

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday October 18 2021, @05:08PM (#1188091) Journal

      What! You mean those liberal peacemongers, and tree hoggers, and shave the whales nutjobs are going to lower the salt in my foods?

      Can I still buy a salt shaker in the seasoning section of the grocery store?

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:11PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:11PM (#1187557)

    I like to dip my balls in jello

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Adam on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:12PM (1 child)

    by Adam (2168) on Saturday October 16 2021, @08:12PM (#1187558)

    They're just proposing a voluntary recommendation. It would accomplish less than requiring the inclusion of added sugar in the nutritional facts did.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @09:17PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @09:17PM (#1187573)

      Toothless.. added sugar... Hoo-ah!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @09:09PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @09:09PM (#1187571)

    Not their bailiwick.

  • (Score: 2, Troll) by Quicksilver on Saturday October 16 2021, @09:10PM (3 children)

    by Quicksilver (1821) on Saturday October 16 2021, @09:10PM (#1187572)

    1 in 5 people have a salt (sodium) sensitivity. Cue the knee jerk government reaction "Let's make EVERYONE reduce salt intake!!!"

    Yeah that sounds like the normal government way of solving something.

    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @12:14AM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @12:14AM (#1187615)

      Ya know, if you want more salt in your food you could just reach for that thingy on your kitchen table called...wait for it!...a salt shaker. Conversely, those of us who want to reduce the sodium in our diet have no easy way to take the sodium out of food once it has been put in. These days it is nearly impossible to avoid the overabundance of salt in the food supply unless you grow all of your own food and cook everything from scratch.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @04:41PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @04:41PM (#1187743)

        It's really not hard at all. Especially if you're drinking plenty of water, as recommended, and living/working in an area where it gets hot during the summer.

        The whole idea that it's hard to avoid excessive salt consumption is pretty much bullshit. It's only hard to do when you take the ridiculously low recommendations as fact, at which point it's going to be hard to avoid as you need more sodium than that to properly function. Just cut out the soda, soy sauce and the more highly processed soups and TV dinners, and you're likely at risk of under doing it.

        It's also worth noting that not everybody has a taste for salt containing foods. Removing it from those packaged foods could very easily cause health problems for people that don't go searching for salty snacks.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @04:14PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @04:14PM (#1188063)

          Removing it from those packaged foods could very easily cause health problems for people that don't go searching for salty snacks.

          How in the hell did people ever survive before the advent of salty snacks?!?

  • (Score: 2) by HammeredGlass on Saturday October 16 2021, @09:38PM (2 children)

    by HammeredGlass (12241) on Saturday October 16 2021, @09:38PM (#1187578)

    last time I bought it. One of the reasons I bought it was the low sodium compared to other frozen pizzas. The "New Recipe" included a 25% increase in sodium per serving.

    California Pizza's Four Cheese(I add my own toppings consisting of usually ground beef, mushrooms, and zucchini).

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @09:48PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @09:48PM (#1187580)

      Don't fear the sodium.

      But if you do, you could buy a frozen blank crust and add everything, or go all in and make your own dough.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @10:17PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 16 2021, @10:17PM (#1187582)

        I do something similar, except I get a ball of dough. It's much healthier over all and tastes a lot better.

        I'll cook it in a warmed cast iron skillet for about 6 to 7 minutes at 500F. Very little work is required, but it's leagues better than the frozen stuff. And quite a bit better than some pizza chains.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by Snotnose on Saturday October 16 2021, @10:06PM (2 children)

    by Snotnose (1623) on Saturday October 16 2021, @10:06PM (#1187581)

    I watch these cooking shows. "Be sure to season at every step" means add salt 3-4 times during the cooking process. I add salt at the beginning, add more at the end if needed. These cooking shows, during each step, adds more salt that I do both times combined.

    I can't eat fast food, it's too salty.

    I hate going to a recommended restaurant only to find the food is too salty.

    The problem is the average person is too used to too much salt and think food tastes bad without it.

    The only exception is pasta and potatos. Just like the cooking shows, I add a lot of salt to the cooking water for those.

    But I never add my salted pasta water to my sauce, it makes it too salty.

    --
    Why shouldn't we judge a book by it's cover? It's got the author, title, and a summary of what the book's about.
    • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday October 17 2021, @05:46AM

      by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Sunday October 17 2021, @05:46AM (#1187660) Journal

      Much the same here. I can spend hours in the kitchen, measuring and sprinkling spices - and never pick up the salt. Spices are costly, salt is dirt cheap. I could save several cents, maybe a dollar, in preparing a meal - but I'd rather have the real herbs and spices. For people who don't have sell stocked spice racks, Mrs. Dash does well with almost everything. Just hide the salt shaker, and put a couple bottles of Mrs. Dash on the table.

    • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday October 17 2021, @12:17PM

      by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Sunday October 17 2021, @12:17PM (#1187709) Homepage
      Yup, another +1 here. The local tastes are notoriously salty, and so many things in all but the best pubs and restaurants taste clearly of salt to me. There's recently been an influx of more Indian and Pakistani chefs, some Thai too, and they know how to make food flavoursome without too much salt, so we're happy to support those places.
      --
      Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by ElizabethGreene on Saturday October 16 2021, @11:38PM (3 children)

    by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Saturday October 16 2021, @11:38PM (#1187607) Journal

    Our children will look back on this the same way we look back at the decision to promote low-fat diets, glorifying margarine over butter, and costing Americans millions of years of healthspan.

    • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Sunday October 17 2021, @01:16PM (1 child)

      by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Sunday October 17 2021, @01:16PM (#1187712) Homepage
      Whilst the "Margerine > Butter" lobby did spout some utter bullshit, the "Butter > Margerine" cult is equally guilty of spreading pure garbage.

      Personally, I'd like to try the "original" margerine, made with beef fat :)
      --
      Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
      • (Score: 3, Funny) by FatPhil on Sunday October 17 2021, @01:16PM

        by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Sunday October 17 2021, @01:16PM (#1187713) Homepage
        I just looks wrong, I have no idea why I let my fingers type it.
        --
        Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @04:45PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @04:45PM (#1187744)

      I'm curious who's going around modding these posts down. There's basically no reason for typical people to cut back on their sodium intake. If you're not bloated with high blood pressure and overweight, there's basically no reason to cut back. What's more, you can increase potassium levels and eat a generally more balanced diet to make up for it.

      Sodium is just a convenient bogeyman to distract from the actual issues associated with excessive sugar intake and generally poor nutritional content in processed foods.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Sunday October 17 2021, @01:49PM (5 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Sunday October 17 2021, @01:49PM (#1187716) Journal

    There's a simple solution to the level of salt in food: make your own food. Then, you can decide exactly how salty to make it.

    If you don't have a lot of time during the week to cook, make it on the weekend and portion it out into containers that you can heat up in the microwave at work. Or do simple prep like slicing cheese and onions so that when you want to make a sandwich for the day's lunch you throw the pre-sliced ingredients onto a couple slices of bread and place it in the sandwich press for a couple minutes.

    Many people have come up with many ways to avoid processed food while handling busy schedules. It's not hard to do, but rather a matter of changing your habits.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @03:15PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 17 2021, @03:15PM (#1187734)

      That's not practical for most people. There was a time when many households could afford to have one stay at home partner that could do such things, now in most couples both people work and increasingly more than one job. Even if you do make your own food, it can be a nightmare figuring out which ingredients are actually safe as products like olive oil are commonly adulterated to the point of being questionable.

      On top of that, there's so much bullshit about what is and isn't safe to eat, that it's legitimately problematic to try and figure out how to build a balanced diet with the available food. Not to mention the cost of buying the ingredients rather than pre-processed foods.

      If you can afford to do it, it's a great thing to do, just realize how impractical it is for an increasing share of the population.

      • (Score: 2) by acid andy on Monday October 18 2021, @02:26AM (1 child)

        by acid andy (1683) on Monday October 18 2021, @02:26AM (#1187860) Homepage Journal

        If you don't mind eating a one pot meal it can be cooked in about 15-20 minutes in the evening. If you make enough, you can reheat some for lunch the following day. A pasta based meal is one of the best to boil in one pot but rice can work too with some veg and spices (I hear some people like to add bits of dead animal as well. That's optional and easier if they're precooked). If you want more fat you can stir fry instead of boil and it still shouldn't take 20 minutes.

        If you're working two or more jobs though you might have to give up on it, or just live on piles of raw fruit and veg.

        --
        If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
        • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @04:09PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @04:09PM (#1188057)

          The secret is to cook a mess of things (meat, veg, grains) that you can put in individual covered tubs in the fridge and eat the whole workweek for lunch at least. One homecooked meal a day beats none.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @04:21PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 18 2021, @04:21PM (#1188065)

      If you don't have a lot of time during the week to cook, make it on the weekend and portion it out into containers that you can heat up in the microwave at work. Or do simple prep like slicing cheese and onions so that when you want to make a sandwich for the day's lunch you throw the pre-sliced ingredients onto a couple slices of bread and place it in the sandwich press for a couple minutes.

      You might want to check the sodium content of the bread and cheese you are using to make that sandwich. You might also want to check the sodium content if you are planning to add lunch meat to that sandwich. Unless, of course, you are making the bread, cheese, and lunch meat from scratch.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 19 2021, @12:10AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 19 2021, @12:10AM (#1188224)

        I make bread from scratch. You can buy low sodium cheese and lunch meat. They make it for people with high blood pressure. If you don't trust those either then you can make your own cheese and cold cuts, too. They sell kits with the bacteria to make special cheeses like Bleu cheese, but farmers cheese is as easy as adding rennet to whole milk and straining it with cheese cloth. Lunch meat is as easy as cooking a roast and slicing it thinly.

        But that depends on how much you trust companies and the FDA and how much trouble you want to go to.

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