Monday, January 11, 2010

NYC debuts sodium reduction plan

This article is about The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene released their National Salt Reduction Initiative. This is help reduce the amount of salt intake while dining out. Many companies and restaurants use salt to add flavor, but sometimes they use too much. They hope to cut the levels of sodium in restaurant and prepackaged foods by 20 percent over the next five years. They have expanded to chain restaurants as well as independents, so everyone can join in the effort to help make Americans healthier. New York City board of health has been working on a project to help reduce the amount of salt for over a year again. They want to help reduce high blood pressure. "According to the health department, reformulating menu items to reflect a reduction in sodium will involve some additional cost, “but like other recipe changes or new product launches, it can be managed within businesses’ reformulation and relabeling cycles.”

3 comments:

  1. I think that the effort to reduce dietary intake of sodium is a creat idea. However, getting the full coorporation of restaurants may be challenging, since flavor and taste play a big role in the sucess of the food business. Beside the costly salt substitute, there is the effect additive that may not seat well with consumers. Must often, dissatisfied consumers translate into lost of revenue.
    Perhaps,allowing consumers to take an active role in keeping America healthy. By that I mean;perhaps,restaurants could practice adding no sodium in their food preparation or use minimum amount of sodium where it is absolutly. necessary. As a result, consumers would have the choice of whether to ad salt and how much if any.

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  2. Restaurants will face some predicaments by reducing salt in their dishes. It is a very good idea to reduce it, because it will lower blood pressure and have individuals live healthier lives. I feel that filing the lawsuits against restaurants is a great idea. Even if the case gets thrown out, it brings up the idea of high sodium to the general public, and individuals will make their own ideas about the situation. I also like the idea with the fast food franchises. Instead of just fixing the one McDonald's or Burger King, you should change all of the fast food restaurants. A way that restaurants could change this way of seasoning foods is use more spices or salt additives, depending on their income. This article was interesting and definitely will create health conscious individuals, however restaurants will have a hard time keeping up with the idea of reducing salt.

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  3. I did enjoy this article very much but it made me very sad because unless you are a chef or have cooked for many years the understanding of how salt draws out flavors in dishes, soups, and items is a magic that when brought to the right amount adds dimension and enhanced flavor of already existing elements but more flat and not as complex with lack of unami and richness.I like to think of salt as an ingredient that when used to just enough is a great addition to any dish and a needed nutrient while drinking water to help retain water in the body regulate hydration and keep the body from going into states of Hypo mytremia. This can happen in such cases as the New York Marathon and other events where people loose large amounts of water from their bodies and replace large reserves of water without a certain amount of sodium intake and cells cannot hydrate properly. Gatorade specifically puts sodium in their drinks because it is a needed electrolyte for proper mind and body function. People should not infringe on salt intakes they should just drink more water which would lower their sodium levels. Large amounts of the consumption of soda,alcohol, and coffee with high salt diets are more prone for health issues than diets with high salt, a gallon of water consumed every day,and regular excercise

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