AMA wants warning labels on high-salt food

[kleenex]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060613/ap_on_he_me/diet_doctors_salt

Foods considered high in salt are those with more than 480 milligrams of sodium per serving, according to the AMA report. That includes hot dogs, some canned soups, a slice of packaged pepperoni pizza, an order of chicken chow mein and a cheeseburger, according to a food chart accompanying the council report.

I 100% agree with them. Put it right on front of the package that this is a high sodium food.

Since allmost all fast food is high in sodium, put the warning label on all the food wrappers as well!!!

I wonder if a frozen Pizza nutritional label will now say that 1/11 of the pizza is a serving size just to get under the 480 milligram limit if passed???? Who eats 1/11 of a frozen pizza anyway.

 

[middie]

That's good for people like me who have high blood pressure. Although it makes me think people are too lazy to turn the can around to read the label.

 

[kleenex]

But I do do not think many people know that 480 milligrams of sodium per serving is high.

 

[purrfectlydevine]

If you read ALL of the info on the package, hopefully, many adults could figure out that if the recommended daily allowance for sodium is 2400mg, then 480 mg is about 1/5 of what you should have in a entire day. Unfortunately there are many that could not, therefore something like is suggested by the article could make those people aware that the food may not be a very good choice.

 

[KellyM]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060613/ap_on_he_me/diet_doctors_salt



I 100% agree with them. Put it right on front of the package that this is a high sodium food.

Since allmost all fast food is high in sodium, put the warning label on all the food wrappers as well!!!

I wonder if a frozen Pizza nutritional label will now say that 1/11 of the pizza is a serving size just to get under the 480 milligram limit if passed???? Who eats 1/11 of a frozen pizza anyway.

Salt is only bad for people who have sodium-related hypertension, which is really a pretty small slice of the population. It's not even bad for everyone who has high blood pressure. And it is an essential nutrient for your nerves to work properly (!), and makes things taste good. I will admit there are a lot of other bad things in fast or convenience food, but sodium isn't necessarily one of them.

I know, it's heresy, but if you don't believe me, research it and prove me wrong. And I mean real research, not just "evidence" from websites that spout the dogma of the day. I mean, fer Pete's sake! Salty is one of the four things the human tongue can taste. (Count 'em. Four. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter.) You think this is because it's bad for us?

Sorry to be such an old so & so, and I'm not attacking you personally, but this is one of my major pet-peeves. Please don't just accept everything "they" tell you. Nothing personal, this one just pushes my "hot" button.

Kelly

 

[Andy M.]

I agree with Kelly. According to my doctor, only about 5% of the population will have a blood pressure problem casused by sodium excess. The problem is not being able to determine if you're one of the 5%.

 

[GB]

I mean, fer Pete's sake! Salty is one of the four things the human tongue can taste. (Count 'em. Four. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter.) You think this is because it's bad for us?

I agree with a lot of what you said (to a degree) in your post Kelly, but this statement above I do not agree with at all. One of the other 5 (yes there are actually 5 not 4 tastes) is bitter. While not all things bitter are bad, a lot are. You taste bitter specifically (but not solely) because it is bad for you. In nature, a lot of plants and berries and other things are bitter because they are poisonous and that is an indication to stay away from them.

 

[jennyema]

In 1994, 480 mg of sodium was considered "healthy"

I am a big proponent of properly seasoning food (eg, with salt), but too much sodium (like way too much) can cause fluid retention and other problems that may not be as serious as hypertension, but are bad nonetheless.


And the 5 tastes discernable are sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami

 

[vyapti]

Whatever happened to a healthy, well rounded diet. If you're diet consists mostly of frozen pizza and fast food, sodium should be the least of your worries. A Big Mac value meal has 1100 calories and 46 grams of fat. That's far worse than the 1000 mg of salt.

As a side note, Big Mac sauce will stain your skin. In my youth, my roommate and I worked at a McDonalds. During a rush, he got some Big Mac sauce on his arm and didn't wipe it off immediately. He ended up with an orange spot on his arm that didn't wash off, it had to wear off.

 

[kleenex]

Whatever happened to a healthy, well rounded diet. If you're diet consists mostly of frozen pizza and fast food, sodium should be the least of your worries. A Big Mac value meal has 1100 calories and 46 grams of fat. That's far worse than the 1000 mg of salt.

As a side note, Big Mac sauce will stain your skin. In my youth, my roommate and I worked at a McDonalds. During a rush, he got some Big Mac sauce on his arm and didn't wipe it off immediately. He ended up with an orange spot on his arm that didn't wash off, it had to wear off.

I will agree that the fat is worse than the sodium, but America just can't become sodium junkies either.

 

[Barbara L]

Strictly as a personal decision (not health related), I stopped salting my food (most of it anyway) years ago. After two weeks of everything tasting bland, I started noticing the salt already in foods. Since moving to South Carolina I have developed high blood pressure, kidney stones, and diabetes. Once in awhile I get a craving for something salty, like potato chips. I don't know if it affects my blood pressure (I don't have a home monitor), but I do know that my ankles swell up a lot. I have done a lot of reading on the subject, and I think it is an individualized thing. I think salt affects some people and not others. Either way, I think some foods have way too much salt. You have to pay attention to the labels too. A few weeks ago my husband and I wanted some chips. Ruffles had a new lower fat chip, so I thought we'd try it. Then I compared the label to the regular Ruffles. The difference in fat wasn't that much, but the lower fat ones had way more salt. If I want to eat something, I'll eat it, but if I can get it with less salt, I figure I might as well.

Barbara

 

[kleenex]

If you want a lower sodium chip try the Lays Lower sodium chip.

Or you can try out some of thr Cape Cod potato chips. Some have only 110MG of sodium per serving which is low imo.

 

[BlueCat]

I asked my the nurse at my doctor's office if salt is bad for a person who's blood pressure is not affected by salt, and they told me that it could have an effect on the artery walls, but there was nothing concrete on that. She just said that a person who doesn't need to watch salt intake for BP reasons should balance out that salt intake by drinking extra water to flush it from their system.

BC