Bacon, Country Hams, Potato Chips and the Salt Police

Foxfyre

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Oct 11, 2007
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Desert Southwest USA
It sure doesn't seem to be the oil leak problem in the Gulf. So it's a toss up whether the current Adminsitration and Congress will make illegal immigration, Cap & Trade, or control of the internet their next priority, but based on the increased commentary on salt intake, it looks like our salt shakers may a target:

Federal War on Salt Could Spoil Country Hams
Reducing salt content threatens signature N.C. foods, restaurant fare

By Sara Burrows
May 23, 2010

RALEIGH — If the food police get their way, North Carolinians can kiss their country hams, bacon, and fresh Bright Leaf hot dogs goodbye. These Southern specialties might not disappear altogether, but, if the health agency’s crusade against salt is successful, they never will taste the same again.

The Washington Post reports that the Food and Drug Administration plans an unprecedented effort to reduce gradually Americans’ salt consumption.

In April, the Institute of Medicine advised the FDA to lower the recommended daily intake of sodium for individuals from 2,300 mg to 1,500 mg. It also recommended setting maximum legal limits on salt in all packaged and restaurant foods.

The plan is “to slowly ratchet down the sodium level, so people won’t notice the change,” said Christina DeWitt, a food scientist on the IOM advisory panel.

Still, critics of the proposal argue that, in isolation, limiting salt in the diet may not improve public health. Jacob Sullum, senior editor at Reason magazine, says there's little evidence linking low-salt diets to a reduced incidence of high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease.

Sullum cites a February 2009 New York Times op-ed column by Michael Alderman, a professor of epidemiology at the Albert Einstein College of medicine, which stated:

“[O]ver the past generation, while sodium intake in the United States appears to be increasing, deaths from heart attacks and strokes have declined by half," Alderman wrote. "It is also possible that a change in this single dietary element might disturb unknown nutritional interactions and thus generate other as yet unrecognized effects, good or bad.”

Just how much salt the FDA might cut has not yet been determined, but DeWitt said allowances might be made for inherently salty foods like brine cheeses, pickles, olives, and country ham.

More here:
Federal War on Salt Could Spoil Country Hams

Personally, I would like good information on what the salt content, etc. is in the foods I eat, and then choose for myself what is and isn't good for me. And I think if the government is successful in establishing salt mandates, it is inevitable that sugar content, fat content, simple carbohydrate content etc. controls are looming right over the horizon.

What do you think?
 
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I'd rather choose for myself. I'm a savory craver - and love salty food. But I also avoid convenience and fast food which are loaded up with salt, preferring to have something "really good" if I'm going to indulge.

Also, all salt is not created equal. Organic sea salt is healther than commercial table salt (imo), so I use that at home.

As the old fable goes:

By orders of the bride, at the wedding breakfast they served her father bread without salt and meat without seasoning. Seeing him make faces and eat very little, his daughter, who sat beside him, inquired if his dinner was not to his taste.

`No,' he replied, `the dishes are carefully cooked and sent up, but they are all so tasteless.'

`Did not I tell you, my Father, that salt was the best thing in life? And yet, when I compared you to salt, to show how much I loved you, you thought slightingly of me and ordered me from your presence.'

The king embraced his daughter and admitted he had been wrong to misinterpret her words. Then, for the rest of the wedding feast, they gave him bread made with salt and dishes with seasoning, and he said they were the very best he had ever eaten.


The Shepherdess


Food without salt is very bland indeed.
 
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Also, all salt is not created equal. Organic sea salt is healther than commercial table salt (imo), so I use that at home.

okay you got me, I use sea salt exclusively for salt and had no idea there was organic sea salt? how does salt even qualify to be organic or not?
 
You guys are probably too young to remember, but years ago movie theater popcorn was the best stuff on the planet. The theaters bought up almost all of the special coconut oil that it was popped in and it was amazing--tender to a fault, succulant, melt in your mouth, wonderful, flavorful popcorn. People went to the movies to get it. My mouth still waters thinking about that incredible flavor and the unmistakable aroma of that popcorn.

Well the food police of that era decided the special oil used to pop the corn was unhealthy and got it banned. The result was the okay but unremarkable fare that we get in the movies now.

Now I ask you. I wonder how many people bought and ate enough movie theater popcorn back then so that it constituted a major health problem?

I thought about the same thing when they banned smoking in bars because it was unhealthy. How many people go to bars for their health?

And now the restaurant industry, already one of the most regulated industries in the country and one of the most difficult to make a success of are going to be forced to serve food that just doesn't taste as well as food that is adequately seasoned? Are going to be forced to serve food that won't taste anywhere near as good as what we prepare at home?

I should have put this in the "My world is upside down" thread. :)
 

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