New York City has been the battleground for the new Nanny State of Food Police. First it was the ban on trans-fats, then menu labeling laws. Now, the city has its sights set on salt. Other municipalities, states and even the federal government are joining the fight in an effort to reduce the chronic diseases straining our health care industry.
This Sunday, New York’s paper of record looked at the looming battle between processed food companies and government regulators looking to curb our addiction to salt. While the accusations of the processed food industry’s attempts to “delay and divert” are not surprising, the justification for it by the industry was a little shocking, if not disturbing. Industry scientists described the “warmed-over flavor”, a side effect of food production that can result in food that tastes like “cardboard” or “damp dog hair” as justification for their liberal use of salt.
Cargill, one of the leading salt marketers in the world, hired food scientist Alton Brown, to explain the miracle of salt and its food (and life) enhancing role. While it certainly has been fundamental to civilization, the question remains, how much is too much. Food labels base serving sizes on a recommended daily intake of 2400 mg of sodium per day, however, that is for healthy, young adults without other risk factors for hypertension. The majority of Americans (about 69%) are recommended to consume only 1500 mg per day. Cutting back isn’t as easy as putting down the salt shaker. The Mayo Clinic estimates that 77% of our sodium intake is from prepared and processed foods. It is unclear if that includes restaurant meals, which The New York Times story includes and cites at 80%. Similar to the debate on high fructose syrup, it is not the additive that is inherently bad, but its prevalence in our daily diet that we don’t even realize.
Some companies like Campbell’s have been proactive in finding solutions, while others are beginning to make strides and pledging reductions in coming years. The bottom line for many is that salt is a cost effective solution for making cheap, palatable food, and in today’s economic times, an effective argument to make. Others are looking at the long term costs of high-sodium diets. The American Heart Association is making a strong push, including a national advertising campaign, to warn people of the dangers of a high-salt diet, but invariably when people hear the word “diet” they think of weight loss.
The libertarian in me sees the overstepping of government involvement in our personal choices, while the pragmatist sees the financial burden from a system that covertly encourages unhealthy, cost-effective practices. With increased government involvement in health care, and companies and cities being crushed by increased insurance premiums, expect a growing focus on steps we can take towards prevention of chronic, debilitating diseases that are linked to our diet and lifestyle. We already have taxes on tobacco and alcohol, and more have been proposed for sugary drinks. This debate has been raging for over 30 years, and sometimes combating one problem, has led to the rise of another.
Salt is not an option in our lives, and excluding it is not a solution. As always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle, but the opinions of those with the biggest marketing budgets tend to have the most influence. The battle is not between health and flavor, but rather health and time. Increased demands on our time lead to prioritization of activities. Do we go to the gym and cook dinner, or sleep in and work late? Would we rather spend an hour to make a meal, or spend that time watching someone else do it on TV and order a pizza during the commercial break? We have the choice to take food preparation back in our hands, but where do our priorities lie?
I think we can all agree that we don’t want to eat anything resembling cardboard or dog hair (damp or dry), but are these the only choices we have? A panel at this year’s IACP conference created a spirited debate questioning the time we have to prepare food at home, which led Michael Ruhlman to declare “cooking is fundamental to our humanity”. However, with the realities of a time-starved society, you can take that with a grain of salt, and that is what food processors are banking on.
Image credit: Salt Word via Fitnessabout.com
This is why I prefer to buy fresh foods and make my own meals. Salt is important but one needs to be away of how much is going into your body. The only way to do that is to do it yourself.
Ciao. Interesting post, it covers a lot of ground.
The ’salt war’ is really about our dependence on processed food, isn’t it? If you are a processed food maker, you can take the cheapest available produce, chuck flavoring and salt and chemicals into it and voila, it’s tasty.
I was at the IACP Ruhlamn discussion and I was one of the ones applauding his slapdown of the other two panelists. You CAN make dinner from scratch, its just not that hard or time sucking. I’m speaking from experience, not theoretically. Full time job+, gym time, sometimes sleep-in time, somebody’s mother.. etc. etc. We ate dinner at home most nights, and we ate it together as a family. It can be done, and you can lower your salt and up your life -satisfaction level all at the same time.
Ruhlman is on to something: Cooking, and eating together, is fundamental to our humanity.
Judith, thanks for the comment. You are right about the “salt wars” and in many respects it is similar to the “war on sugar”. The large increases of this in our diet is largely from prepared foods and drinks. People concerned of eating a piece of fruit because it has sugar are really missing the point, just as someone that doesn’t want to add a little salt at the end of their meal preparation. Prohibition rarely works, but moderate consumption when combined with vitamins and nutrients is a perfectly fine way to enjoy food and life.
BTW…I just saw your post on artichokes and you are right, they are back. I was at a produce show this weekend where Ocean Mist Farms was trying to demystify the artichoke and show how easy (and delicious) it is to prepare in a meal.