ENGLEWOOD, Colo.—State health officials are looking for ways large and small to gradually get Coloradans to eat less salt without their tastebuds noticing.
On Wednesday, they announced tweaks in a health department program that aims to give diners healthier options at restaurants.
Later, state health officials may look at whether to change procurement policies to include nutrition standards in state agencies’ food contracts, said Susan Motika, food policy coordinator for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The goal is to help Coloradans follow new U.S. dietary guidelines calling for most Americans to slash their sodium intake to lower blood pressure and the risk of heart disease and stroke.
“We certainly won’t stop people from dying, but wouldn’t it be nice for as long as we live, we live a healthy life,” the state’s chief medical officer Dr. Christopher Urbina said at the health department’s Summit on Sodium.
The free, daylong summit Wednesday brought together food manufacturers, cooks, health departments and others. The state is dealing with an estimated $1 billion budget gap, but organizers said the summit was funded by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Last month, the federal government said people should limit daily sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams, or about one-third less than the average person now consumes. Those who are 51 and older, African-American or suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease were advised to limit intake to 1,500 milligrams daily.
The Colorado health department’s Smart Meal Seal program uses labels at participating restaurants to identify menu options that meet certain standards, including having less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per meal. The health department said Wednesday the limit is dropping to 1,350 milligrams this year and to 1,200 next year.
“We’re balancing consumer taste and public health goals,” said Eric Aakko, the health department’s healthy living branch unit director.
The program is being supported with an $860,000 grant from the Colorado Health Foundation.
States and cities around the country are taking different approaches to cutting sodium intake. Massachusetts includes low-sodium standards and other healthy standards in state agencies’ contracts for food and beverages at places like jails and hospitals. New York City has a similar initiative.
Meanwhile, companies such as Starbucks Corp. and H.J. Heinz Co. have committed to the National Salt Reduction Initiative to reduce sodium in products by 25 percent over five years—and not just in the highest-sodium products.
“If you want to put a dent in sodium intake, you have to reduce sodium in foods like bread that don’t have much sodium per slice but that people eat a lot of,” said Lawrence Appel, director for the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research at The Johns Hopkins University.
Reducing salt has its challenges because it’s a preservative, adds flavor and is integral in making some foods like cheese.
Denver chef Frank Bonanno said he’s cut nearly all the salt from his own diet for health reasons. He misses it. His kids haven’t.
“To get them to eat things they didn’t want to eat, I tended to put salt and butter on them. Now they’re still eating them because they just trust me that I’m making it the same way,” he said.
Bonanno said home cooks looking to cut sodium should avoid processed foods and concentrate on other flavors in a dish.
“A big squeeze of lemon goes a long way,” he said.
