By Erika Edwards -
NBC News
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has asked food manufacturers and restaurants to reduce the salt in their products over the next two and a half years, with the goal of reducing total sodium intake. of Americans by 12%.
The recommendation, announced Wednesday, will cover a wide variety of foods and will affect restaurant chains, processed foods sold in supermarkets and even baby food.
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"What we want is for the food industry to gradually reduce the sodium content" in the most common foods, Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the FDA, explained to NBC News, sister network of Noticias Telemundo.
The goal, according to Woodcock, is to dramatically reduce rates of heart disease, the nation's leading cause of death.
Reducing sodium in the diet "would have a huge impact on hypertension, heart disease and stroke," he noted.
Current dietary guidelines recommend that adults consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day, which is equal to one teaspoon of table salt.
However, according to the FDA, US citizens consume an average of 3,400 milligrams of sodium per day.
The new recommendations aim to reduce that amount by 12%, to 3,000 milligrams a day, according to the doctor.
This equates to consuming 60 teaspoons less salt per year.
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Although that goal would fall short of the recommended daily intake of 2,300 mg of sodium, outside experts said that guidance is a good first step in addressing high blood pressure, which affects nearly half of American adults.
Wednesday's request ends the interim guidance the agency issued in 2016 on how much salt companies must add to food that the food industry largely ignored.
The new recommendations are not binding, which means that companies are not required to carry them out.
Woodcock noted that the FDA will carefully monitor the industry for years to come, rewarding companies that comply.
They didn't clarify what the rewards would be or whether the FDA would take any action against companies that don't cut back on sodium.
But experts noted that the federal push may increase the likelihood that most big manufacturers will act.
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Marlene Schwartz, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at the University of Connecticut, said: "The advantage of the government setting this goal and lobbying is that there is a greater chance that everyone will make the changes."
The guide will apply to more than 160 categories of processed, packaged and prepared foods - such as tomato sauce, dairy products and breakfast cereals - as well as chain restaurant meals.
Different food categories will have different levels of sodium.
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In a statement, the National Restaurant Association said it has worked with the FDA on the new guidance and "continues to offer options to meet customer wishes and meet health requirements."
Public health experts largely applauded the guide.
The president of the American Heart Association, Dr. Donald Lloyd-Jones, said it was "an incredibly exciting time" that is expected to help people achieve healthier levels of sodium in their diets.
This, in turn, could reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
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Dr. Peter Lurie, chairman of one of the food industry's highest profile watchdog groups, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) noted that the FDA guidance is probably “ the most effective intervention the US government could take at this time. "
CSPI has been pushing for decades to reduce the levels of added sodium in foods.
"Although all natural foods contain small amounts of sodium," he wrote in a letter to the federal government last month, "more than 70% of the sodium consumed by the average American comes from packaged foods and from restaurants."
What's more, much of the sodium in a typical diet comes from foods that you don't necessarily think of as "salty," such as bread, spaghetti sauces, and salad dressings.
“The average consumer can do very little.
The only way to have a significant impact on sodium intake is to put the responsibility on the industry, "Lurie said.
The effects of salt on the body
Consuming too much salt is often associated with high blood pressure and heart problems.
But the consequences do not begin in the heart, according to Lloyd-Jones, but in the kidneys.
The main function of the kidneys is to filter waste and toxins from the blood and maintain an adequate level of fluids in the body.
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As more sodium is consumed, the kidneys are less able to eliminate the excesses.
As sodium builds up, the kidneys become less efficient at removing excess fluid from the body, leading to high blood pressure.
When blood pressure is high, the heart must work harder to pump blood through the body.
This, in turn, increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure.
Elisabetta Politi, a registered dietitian with the Duke University Center for Weight Management and Lifestyle, said the new guidance was "a good step in the right direction."
In her experience treating clients, it takes just a few days for a person's taste buds to acclimate to foods with much less sodium.
Politi said that a week after starting her program, her clients have resisted the salinity of their previous meals and her clients' blood pressure tends to drop within days of reducing salt.
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"The data is clear: lives could be saved if we encourage people to consume less sodium," said Politi.
