A new law goes into effect Tuesday requiring the city’s restaurants to identify menu items containing more than the recommended daily maximum of sodium, 2,300 milligrams. That is the traditional recommended limit for an adult to consume in an entire day (Newer American Heart Association guidelines recommend 1,500 mg) and the triangle is supposed to warn that the one item has MORE than that amount.
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The city became the first municipality to require chains to post high-sodium warnings when its Board of Health approved the rule in September. It noted a “well-established connection” between sodium intake and high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart attack and stroke.
“Along with clearly being linked to raising blood pressure, we now have credible information that it can directly damage inner lining of the blood vessel – to damage the kidney, to damage the small vessels of the eye, to damage the small vessels of the brain”, Dr. Howard Weintraub said.
New York City’s new regulation applies to restaurants with 15 or more outlets nationally, and affects about a third of the city’s eateries, PIX11 in New York reported.
But salt producers say the city is acting on misimpressions about the risks of salt in New Yorkers’ diets. This is why groups such as the National Salt Reduction Initiative (NSRI) have lobbied for voluntary salt reductions in food items. So, New York City’s Mayor, Bill de Blasio, has taken action. Critics say the requirement is an example of overreach, but health officials disagree.
“I think that’s a great idea, too much salt is really not good for you, it’s a wonderful thing that they would let us know”, one man told 1010 WINS’ John Montone.
But not everyone is on board with the way it works, some restaurants are saying the city has gone too far.
If restaurants don’t add the sodium warning symbols, they will be fined $200.
As the NRA asserts that the latest round of sodium mandates exceed the scope of the board’s regulatory authority, consumers are still struggling to understand just how much sodium exists in the foods they eat.
“When calorie counts were mandated in NYC, we adjusted our menus to comply, creating a transparency of communication with our guests ensuring they had information necessary to make meal decisions”, Mr. Tankel said.
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“Americans are consuming risky levels of sodium, most often found in processed or restaurant food”, said Robin Vitale, senior director of government relations for the A.H.A. “This rule will help to increase transparency”.
