They will require restaurants to use their salt shaker warning sign in any of their food menu containing more than the daily sodium limit that most nutritionists suggest. That’s the maximum we should be eating per day, according to the government, and is equivalent to about a teaspoon of salt.
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The measure unanimously approved by the New York City Board of Health in September applies only to restaurants with at least 15 establishments across the us, and concession stands at some movie theaters and sports stadiums. The researchers’ conclusion was that menu labeling on its own at fast-food restaurants would not lead to a lasting reduction in calories. New York City officials hope that the rule will spur other cities to adopt similar guidelines for restaurants.
It follows New York City’s banning of trans-unsaturated fats and a requirement for menus to list calorie counts in foods.
“These warnings are needed in restaurants because the majority of sodium in our diet is not coming from what we decide to add with the salt shaker at the table, it’s already in the food when we buy it”, Dr. Mary Bassett, New York City Health Commissioner said in a statement. Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death in NY; about 610,000 Americans succumb to heart disease every year according to the Centers for Disease Control.
“So this new sodium-warning label, which you’ll see going up around the city on menus and menu boards beginning tomorrow, will make people aware of that”. This is a move meant to combat cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease and stroke.
Among black adults, 36 per cent have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, a rate 50 percent higher than for whites, according to the Health Department. However, not all NY restaurants will be participating.
Janet Kramer, a registered dietitian at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, said too much salt can affect the ability for blood to clot and harden blood vessels, leading to long-term effects on the kidney, cardiovascular system and even nervous system.
The emblem of a saltshaker encased in a black triangle will feature alongside any menu item that contains more than 2,300 milligrams (0.08 oz) of sodium. The chain, which declined to comment on the association’s plan to sue, also removed salt from its bread bowl and its Italian combo sandwich.
The NRA and other groups overturned an attempt by the city two years ago to ban large sugary drinks. “Local mandates like the one the board of health put forth unravel that uniformity”.
You have to ask yourself: whom does the National Restaurant Association really represent?
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Zane Tankel, chairman and CEO of New York-area Applebee’s franchisee Apple-Metro, was quoted in an NBC report as saying that the icon gives customers more information.
