One Politician on a Mission

Although I might disagree with using his money to buy and re-write the NYC lawbooks, Mayor Bloomberg is quite the pioneer of the salt crusade. Anything Governor Patterson touches died of dysentery back in Albany (like the soda tax did last year, let’s hope it doesn’t suffer the same fate in 2010), but Bloomberg is fulfilling his healthcare platform manifest destiny and actually gaining some ground.

“Sixteen food companies plan to cut the amount of salt in bacon, flavored rice, and dozens of other products as part of a national effort to reduce Americans’ sodium consumption by 20 percent.

Mars Foods said it would cut the salt in its Uncle Ben’s rices by 25 percent over five years.

Lanette Kovachi, corporate dietitian for Subway, said the sandwich chain has cut sodium by 30 percent in its European outlets and is working on reducing salt in its US restaurants..

Heinz had announced it would reduce sodium by 15 percent in all the ketchup it sells in the United States, starting May 1. Heinz said the move is part of an ongoing commitment to sodium reduction. Heinz has cut sodium in Bagel Bites snacks 20 percent, for example.”

Salt for Thought: Diets high in sodium increase blood pressure that, in turn, increases the risks for a stroke or heart attack. This classic preservative, essential electrolyte, and craving tamer, surprisingly, occurs enough in foods naturally that any added salt, whether it’s by a food manufacturer or at the kitchen table, is superfluous.

Mayor Bloomberg: One Uber-Powerful Politician to Rule Them All

Command and you shall receive, Mayor Bloomberg. Just like you demanded (and paid for) the third and unprecedented term as mayor of our great city, your tenacity in the salt lowering crusade has convinced the FDA to plan unprecedented measures to slowly reduce sodium and eventually implement the first legal limits to the amount of salt allowed in foods.

“The government intends to work with the food industry and health experts to reduce sodium gradually over a period of years to adjust the American palate to a less salty diet, according to FDA sources..

‘This is a 10-year program,’ one source said. ‘This is not rolling off a log. We’re talking about a comprehensive phase-down of a widely used ingredient. We’re talking about embedded tastes in a whole generation of people.’

Currently, manufacturers can use as much salt as they like in products because under federal standards, it falls into the category deemed ‘generally recognized as safe.’ Foodmakers are merely required to report the amount on nutrition labels.”

GRAS seems to be the allspice of terminology for the FDA because almost every additive is listed as such including caffeine, high fructose corn syrup, tons of chemical additives and, ironically, allspice.

In other news, Reuters feels the top hit for news related to this story should be “Majority of American’s distrust the government” (see picture above). Have yee of little faith in the FDA, Reuters? Let’s hope the government can prove them wrong, never too late to start.

An Open Letter to the Mayor of NYC

Dear Mr. Bought-His-Third-Term Bloomberg,

This week’s snowstorm, scientifically referred to as a “snowricane,” has proved, yet again, how poorly staffed the NYC Sanitation department really is. No matter how tenaciously the workers slave away, the lack of manpower, trucks, and salt is ultimately the reason for the 274 lawsuits the terrible road conditions will generate over the weekend in Manhattan alone from slips and falls.

Given your very important yet hypocritical (because your diet is worse than most of obese America’s) crusade to lower salt content in restaurants and processed foods, I suggest, for next winter, you follow up that “green” platform you endorse so heavily and dump the extra salt onto NYC sidewalks. Reduce, reuse.. make New Yorkers happy.

Please keep in mind the purpose of this open letter is for entertainment purposes only. Unless you actually heed my advice in which case it was my idea all along.

Sincerely,
Disgruntled New Yorker

So.. Is it Bad or What?!

The great salt debate is trucking along and the New York Times would like to paint you a positive yet somehow grim, mostly “we have no idea so let’s throw everything in there” picture of Americans on a less salty diet.

“A) More than 44,000 deaths would be prevented annually (as estimated recently in The New England Journal of Medicine).
B) About 150,000 deaths per year would be prevented annually (as estimated by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene).
C) Hundreds of millions of people would be subjected to an experiment with unpredictable and possibly adverse effects (as argued recently in The Journal of the American Medical Association).
D) Not much one way or the other.
E) Americans would get even fatter than they are today.”

Right off the bat, any weight gain would be attributed to lack of self-control. In fact, cutting a significant portion of added salt from processed foods out of your diet will not only make you feel slimmer, it could also help drop those last few vanity pounds.

At least they threw in some statistics before the painfully generic and doomsday “unpredictable and possibly adverse effects.” Since when is cutting out excess amounts of a product that is a major contributor to hypertension, stroke, heart and kidney disease, among others, a bad thing?

Thank you, NYT, for compiling potential consequences from various credible resources that not only backhandedly compliment the salt reduction efforts of our great mayor and the CSPI but also presenting a dreary and foreboding forecast of the “potentially harmful” effects on society.

Good health and nutrition analysts must be hard to come by these days. Is smoking good or bad for you? Let’s go with both.

Shake It Like a Hypertension Causing Salt Shaker

Even though he doesn’t practice the healthy lifestyle he preaches (according to the NYTimes, his favorite snack is Cheez-its, he dumps salt on saltines, and houses PB&B—peanut butter and bacon—sandwiches), Michael Bloomberg has inadvertently been increasing New Yorkers’ life expectancy and health conscientiousness. It started with the ban on smoking in restaurants and bars, went on to the trans-fat battle, continued with calorie disclosure, and has now arrived at salt—and for good reason.

“Many processed foods contain too much salt, and sauces, spreads, and processed meats are the top offenders, new research shows..

Sauces and spreads, at 1,283 mg per 100 g, and processed meats, at 846 mg per 100 g, were the categories with the highest average sodium content.

Sodium content was lowest for cereals (206 mg per 100 g) and fruits and vegetables (211 mg per 100 g). Nearly two-thirds of the 33 food categories had average sodium concentrations that were higher than the maximum standards set by the UK Food Standards Agency, while breads, processed meats, sauces and canned vegetables included many subcategories above these targets.”

For your reference, a food is considered high in sodium if it contains more than 500mg per 100g.

Salt reduction programs can help Americans slow the onset of or even avoid chronic diseases such as high blood pressure at a fraction of the cost of hypertension drug therapies.

Salt, among its laundry list of attributes, is most notably a great preservative and taste enhancer. Sure, the food manufacturers might not be too pleased that they now have to change around formulas, but the drug manufacturers might be the most resistant to potential sodium regulations. Without chronic illnesses like high blood pressure constantly turning around profits, the drug companies won’t make as much money on hypertension medication.

World domination might have to wait until tomorrow night, Pinky. Hopefully they’ll keep those ridiculous commercials around for satirical value.