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ATLANTA, GA - Hot crispy fries and bacon cheeseburgers could soon be losing a whole lot of flavor. The FDA just proposed new controversial guidelines for reducing sodium in our food and it's leaving a bad taste in some people's mouths. Or at least a bland one.
They want manufacturers and restaurants to voluntarily cut the amount of salt in their food to help Americans reduce sodium intake. The average American eats three thousand four hundred milligrams of sodium a day. The FDA hopes to get it down to 3,000- which is still well over the suggested two thousand three hundred milligrams, which they hope to reach in a decade.
Federal health officials say there's overwhelming scientific evidence that reducing sodium intake will save lives, reduce health care costs, and save money. But the claim has been met with resistance from skeptics who think the only people who need to worry are those with hypertension- and resistance from the Salt Institute- for some reason.
The CDC says that the most rigorous studies show that reducing sodium intake improves health- and the guidelines aren't mandatory. They're just a way for consumers to better control how much salt is getting into their food when they aren't the ones holding the salt shaker.