Article Spotlight

Should the FDA limit sodium levels in foods?

So this may be old news but I just came across this article today and it peaked my interest.   I originally read  this article published in the Washington Post on April 20th 2010.  It is actually a bit misrepresentative but basically it talks about how the FDA plans to start limiting sodium levels in processed and restaurant food.

This is where the information is a bit off since it was actually a request from Congress in 2008 to The Institute of Medicine who then sent their report to the FDA.  The entire report from the IOM can be found here.  It’s quite lengthy but does have a great summary and even talks about how they suggest implementing new standards. 

So back to the article, like I have already stated it is about regulating the amount of sodium companies can add to their products.  In general Americans ingest way more sodium than is considered healthy and long term this can lead to hypertension and cardiovascular disease.  The argument here is that limiting sodium levels in foods could prevent 100,000 deaths or more and consequently would save a lot of money in medical bills.

Now when I read the first article I didn’t quite understand the logistics of it but I personally still thought it’s a good idea.  I am absolutely astounded at the amount of sodium in some foods.  Up until a couple years ago I wouldn’t even think about looking at sodium content.  Sure I would look at the calories and the fats, even the sugar but I never thought to look at the sodium nor did I know just how bad it could be for your health.  To be honest I didn’t even know they added salt to canned vegetable until about 18 months ago.  It wasn’t until I started researching how to make baby food that that fact was brought to my attention.  I thought canned vegetables were just cooked vegetables they canned for convenience.   That was also when the lightbulb went off and I started checking the labels for sodium content.  I knew processed foods were high in sodium but we stayed away from those for the most part anyway so that didn’t bother me as much.  What does bother me is the amount of sodium in things like canned vegetables, canned beans, spaghetti sauce…really the list goes on and on. 

What I didn’t understand at first, but do so now after reading the actual report by IOM, is exactly how they were going to go about this.  I thought it a bit extreme to do this all at once and then how would you get all companies to comply.  Also I realized that this would probably cause other problems since the food industry would be trying to compensate for the reduced levels of sodium.  Did you ever notice how in many low fat foods the sugar is increased?  They will turn to something else to make up for the lack of sodium and what they decided to add could arguably be worse.

Now after reading IOM’s report it is clearer, this is going to be a gradual reduction over the course of 10 years to allow the American palate to adjust to the decreasing sodium levels.  They are attempting to avoid extreme taste changes and rejection.  They also acknowledge the fact that everyone will have to be on board so no company or restaurant is at a disadvantage.  Some companies have voluntarily chosen to reduce the sodium in their foods but guess what; their products aren’t selling as well as other products.  Because of this many companies aren’t doing it.

From the comments I have read many people feel this is not the answer and feel that it will just cause more problems in the end.  I, however, feel that this is a good idea that could work if done correctly.  I think that it will be successful if they do carry it out gradually as stated.  If they do it slowly consumers are less likely to notice a difference and reject the new regulations.  Having said that I don’t think this is the only solution.  I have said this before and I will say it again, I really feel there needs to be more education about nutrition available.  I actually feel it may be most beneficial to put nutrition classes in school, the earlier the better, so children can learn when their young and it has more of a chance to stick with them throughout their lives.  I know nutrition is touched upon here and there throughout school but unless things have majorly changed from when I went not too long ago then it’s certainly not enough.  It is left mainly in the parents hands to teach their children about good nutrition but the problem with that is many parents don’t know very much themselves.  Also consider the families where there simply isn’t very much time left in the day.  All children go to school so why can’t that be where we institute a program about nutrition?

This little article got me thinking and also gives me a glimmer of hope that foods, mainly convenience foods, will eventually start to get a little better for you.  I know we try and have well balanced meals prepared from scratch at home but we do enjoy eating out from time to time and of course there are those days where it would be nice to buy one of those frozen prepared meals and call it good without having to feel guilty about the quality of the food you just ate.