The War against Salt

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.First, we had a war against drugs.

Then we started a war against obesity.

Now, we have a war against salt.

The Combatants?

On the anti-salt / salt reduction side, we have New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, First Lady Michelle Obama and starting this morning…..Health Canada.

Their weapon of choice?

A salt reduction plan where they ask industry to reduce the amount of salt in their processed foods.

• Health Canada is asking industry to follow voluntary reduction targets aimed at slashing the average Canadian’s daily consumption of sodium from 3,400 mg to 2,300 mg by 2016.
• Bloomberg’s National Salt Reduction Intiative is hoping to reduce Americans’ salt intake by 20% over five years.

Both of these initiatives are modeled on the salt reduction campaign that the Brits kicked off in 2003.

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Hmmmmm…..a voluntary salt reduction.

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And why would our processed food producers want to “voluntarily” reduce the amount of salt in their products?

• Salt makes food taste better
• When food tastes better, we eat more of it
• When we eat more food, we have to buy more food
• When we buy more food, food producers make more money
• When food producers make more money, their CEOs get bigger bonuses
• And when CEOs get bigger bonuses…they are happy.

So, I ask once again…why would food producers “voluntarily” reduce the amount of salt in their products?

Apart from a public shaming campaign (boo salt), I can’t think of a single reason.

In fact, food giant Cargill is fighting back with a p.r. campaign featuring Food Network star – Alton Brown.

double click the image to see the pro-salt website

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Conclusion

The anti-salt side is about to get their butt kicked.

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(for more info, read the NY Times article on Cargill’s “Hard Sell on Salt”)

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