The Food and Drug Administration(FDA),citing an epidemic of diet-related illness, released new guidelines(指导方针) on Wednesday
The Food and Drug Administration(FDA), citing an epidemic of diet-related illness, released new guidelines(指导方针) on Wednesday aimed at reducing the amount of salt that Americans consume at restaurants, school cafeterias and trucks, or when they are eating packaged and prepared foods at home. The guidelines targeted manufactures that sell foods made from grains as well as potato chips and French fries.
The recommendations, issued after years of delay, seek to reduce the average daily sodium(钠) intake step by step—sodium is the chemical name for salt— by 12% over the next two and a half years by encouraging food manufacturers, restaurants and food service companies to scale back their use of salt.
That goal translates into 3,000 milligrams of salt — slightly more than 1 teaspoon — compared to the 3,400 milligrams that Americans typically consume in a day. Americans' love affairs with salty foods has been linked to alarmingly high rates of high blood pressure, a leading risk factor for heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure.
Much of the excess sodium that Americans consume, about 70% comes from processed and packaged food and meals served at restaurants, according to researchers. The guidance will apply to 163 categories of processed and packaged food and provide different targets for rye bread, salad dressing and baby food.
Nutritionists and public health experts praised the FDA for taking on the problem of excess sodium, saying the effort would help sharpen the public's focus on the dangers of taking in too much salt and create pressure on food companies to reduce their reliance on salt as a cheap flavour booster.
But many said that voluntary measures were unlikely to move the needle very much. Some experts have suggested compulsory reductions. Dr Dariush Mozaffarian from Tufts University said a recent study in China suggested the FDA should be firmer with its guidelines. The study showed people who used a salt replacement reduced their chances of stroke and heart problems compared to those who used regular salt. Mozaffarian said the effect of the sodium guidelines will depend on how well the FDAmonitors food companies and their progress.
