One third of New York City restaurants are impacted by this new rule change and only chain restaurants, ones with 15 or more outlets nationally, will be held to the rule.
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In a first for any American city, dishes with more than 2.3g of salt – one teaspoon, the daily limit many nutritionists recommend – will feature a symbol of a salt shaker in a black triangle.
First proposed in June, the New York City Board of Health unanimously approved the salt measure in September. After the city’s Board of Health passed a rule limiting the size of sugary drinks, the association sued to block the regulation. One in three New York City deaths is due to heart disease, according to Health Department surveys.
As consumers have so far proven, the disclosure of calorie counts on menu items have had little impact on their ordering habits and the salt shaker icon next to high-sodium menu items will likely yield the same result. The CDC noted that excess sodium can cause a spike on blood pressure while increasing the risk for heart disease and stroke, two of the leading cause of death for Americans. The department won’t start issuing violations until 1 March, when eateries will be subject to a $200 fine if they don’t comply. Current Mayor Bill de Blasio has vowed to continue those efforts. This means that customers will see the salt shaker sign on meals that contain more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium. Until Tuesday, they may have been blissfully unaware of the sodium content of a Chipotle loaded chicken burrito (2,790 mg), Subway’s foot-long spicy Italian sub (2,980 mg), TGI Friday’s classic Buffalo Wings (3,030 mg) or Applebee’s grilled shrimp and spinach salad (2,990 mg). My deepest concern is that the New York City mandate could also potentially open the door for other food icons, for example, next to items that contain higher-than-recommended amounts of sugar, iron or calcium, to name a few. Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg, the parent company of Bloomberg News, had asked restaurants and food manufacturers to voluntarily reduce the amount of salt in their menu items.
The National Restaurant Association, though, announced plans to file a lawsuit, charging that the health department has gone beyond its authority in making restaurants post the warning labels, said Politico.
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According to the city government, the average adult in New York City consumes almost 40 percent more sodium than he or she should each day.
