Consumers Urged To Consume Less Salt

Health officials are giving new emphasis in 2011 to reducing consumers' sodium intake, saying the public needs to better understand how much salt they are consuming and what effects it's having.

The American Heart Association is calling on health care providers, the food industry and the government to work together to reduce people's daily sodium consumption.

In its latest advisory, the association sets out the science behind the recommendation for the general population, which is to consume no more than 1500 milligrams (mg) of sodium a day because of the harmful effects of sodium -- elevated blood pressure and increased risk of stroke, heart attacks and kidney disease.

Hypertension

Elevated blood pressure (hypertension) is a major public health problem - approximately 90 percent of all people will develop hypertension over their lifetime.

Sodium consumption is currently more than two times higher than the recommended upper limit of 1,500 mg daily -- with 77 percent of that consumption coming from packaged, processed and restaurant foods.

"Even a modest decline in intake, say 400 mg per day, would produce benefits that are substantial and warrant implementation," say the advisory authors.

The 2005 United States Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommended a sodium intake limit of 2,300 mg per day, which many health experts say is too much for most Americans. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recently recommended to the secretaries of the United States Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that the goal should be modified to 1,500 mg per day for the general population. The advisory committee consists of leading scientists who reviewed the most recent scientific studies and created a set of recommendations that are being reviewed by the secretaries.

CSPI supports

The Center for Science In the Public Interest (CSPI) has been a long-time advocate of reduced sodium content in manufactured and restaurant food, claiming current levels are unhealthy. It has sued restaurants and petitioned the government to reduce sodium levels in processed food. It quickly endorsed the Heart Association's initiative.

"Without question, the amounts of salt used in packaged and restaurant foods make it the deadliest ingredient in the food supply, causing high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, and kidney problems," said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. "We hope that the soon-to-be-released revision of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans reflects the scientific consensus that Americans are consuming too much salt. Even though reducing consumption to 2,300 milligrams-the target in the current Guidelines-would represent great progress, we urge the new Guidelines to provide the more desirable 1,500-mg target."

Recently, the American Heart Association also lowered its recommendation to no more than 1500 mg of sodium daily for the general public, after a report from the Centers for Disease Control found that a majority of the American population either have high blood pressure or are at high risk for developing it.

According to the advisory, high sodium intake is a direct contributors to high blood pressure. Independent of its effects on blood pressure, excess sodium intake adversely affects the heart, kidneys, and blood vessels.

Health care costs

Inherent to the negative health effects are rising healthcare costs, the authors add. They point to one recent study that suggests a national effort that reduces sodium intake by 1,200 mg per day should reduce the health burdens related to heart disease in addition to reducing costs by up to $24 billion per year.

"Americans deserve the opportunity to choose how much sodium is in the food they eat. By supporting measures that will reduce sodium in the overall food supply, we are giving consumers freedom to select foods that could allow them to meet sodium recommendations and improve their ideal cardiovascular health," said Ralph Sacco, M.D., president of the American Heart Association.

The American Heart Association advocates for more robust sodium criteria within school nutrition standards, foods advertised and marketed to children and foods purchased by employers or government feeding programs, and for the Secretaries of HHS and USDA to adopt the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommendations.

The association also supports improved food labeling that helps consumers understand how much sodium is in their diet and consumer education in restaurants to help consumers choose lower-sodium options.