Salty Diet Dangers

Posted December 17, 2007 at 03:00 PM by Christopher Jack

Section: Her Health, Her Nutrition, Diet Myths, Healthy Eating, Her News

Recently, at a public hearing with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, health experts urged for tighter restrictions on salt content in processed and prepared food, a move that could save more than 150,000 lives a year.  The public advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) took the lead.

“Salt is probably the single most harmful thing in our food, contributing to high blood pressure, which causes heart attacks and strokes,” CSPI executive director Michael Jacobson said.  The group is protesting the FDA’s salt status, which is “generally recognized as safe.” The group is pushing to have sale regarded as a food additive.

Nowadays, there is increasing concern over the amount of salt hidden in everyday items stocked on the grocery shelves.  Take, for example, a cup of Cheerios which has 300 milligrams of salt.

“No one eats only one cup, so two to three cups each morning would be nearly 50 percent of your daily allotment.  Yes, the FDA allows Cheerios to be advertised as a healthy alternative,’ Dr. Randall Zusman, associate professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School, explains.

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