FDA Releases New Sodium-Reduction Guidelines For Food Industry

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States has released a set of new sodium-reduction guidelines for the food industry.

The federal agency has asked the food industry to cut back on the amount of sodium being served in different food products.

From bakery shops to soups, the US FDA has issued guidelines for dozens of food products. In addition, the agency has provided a detail of the amount of sodium that remains hidden in different portions of what people eat.

For example, different portions of a turkey sandwich contain much more sodium that what an individual could even imagine. Each slice of bread contains at least 200 mg of sodium, 6 thin slices of turkey 440 mg, 1 slice of cheese 310 mg, 1 teaspoon mustard 120 mg and 1 leaf of lettuce contains 2 mg salt.

According to a number of studies conducted in the past, consumption of an excessive amount of salt is associated with an increased risk of blood pressure, stroke and heart disease. The health experts at the Institute of Medicine believe that reducing the intake of sodium to 2,300 mg per day can help improve the health of the American population significantly by bringing down the levels of high blood pressure.

The US FDA is planning to bring down the everyday consumption of sodium to 2,300 mg per day by the end of the next decade. As of now, an Average American consumes about 3,400 mg of salt each day. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a majority of salt does not come from the salt shaker, but from fatty and processed food prepared in the restaurants.

The CDC director, Thomas Frieden, further says that reducing as much as 400 mg of sodium from daily diet can help prevent more than 28,000 deaths annually.