Chicago – Sodium, one of the planet’s oldest substances, may be the American diet’s newest enemy.
The American Medical Association is expected this week to call for a 50 percent reduction in sodium in processed foods and restaurant meals with the goal of reducing hypertension and, ultimately, cardiovascular disease, the No. 1 killer of men and women.
The nation’s largest doctors’ group also is urging the Food and Drug Administration to improve sodium labeling to help consumers lower their consumption. Some AMA members are urging the agency to go so far as revoking a regulation that considers salt as “generally recognized as safe” and permits food manufacturers and restaurants to use it without limits.
The AMA’s 544-member House of Delegates, meeting in Chicago this week to determine association policies, could vote on the matter as early as today.
Although an AMA policy stance cannot force action, the national group representing 250,000 physicians has clout in Washington. Its support could embolden health policymakers and make it hard for the FDA not to at least look into the sodium issue, observers say.
Strict sodium rules could have huge implications for foodmakers, many of whom are still retooling products to reduce the amount of transfat, the last dietary villain to join the band of outlaws including fat, carbohydrates and cholesterol.
“I think this is going to be like cholesterol was 25 years ago,” said Dr. J. Chris Hawk, a general surgeon and member of the AMA’s Council on Science and Public Health.
The dietary guidelines introduced last year by the government call for a maximum of 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, or a generous teaspoon of salt for most adults. American adults average 4,000 to 6,000 milligrams daily.
The guidelines set an even lower limit of 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day for individuals with high blood pressure, blacks, and middle-aged and older adults.
Richard L. Hanneman, president of the Salt Institute, said the AMA is misguided in its efforts to reduce sodium levels in foods.
“There is no evidence that reducing dietary sodium will product any beneficial health effects for the American public,” he said. “Only one study out of 13 had shown a link between a low sodium diet and a reduced incidence of stroke or heart attack.”
