Nudging Down Sodium Consumption
The Washington Post reports that the FDA is planning a long-term effort to reduce the sodium content of processed foods. (Though FDA has issued a statement to make clear that it is not currently working on any such regulations, saying: “FDA is not currently working on regulations nor has it made a decision to regulate sodium content in foods at this time.”)
Salt excess is pervasive in America. According to this CDC fact sheet (pdf), most American adults consume more than twice their recommended daily allowance of salt. The sodium content of processed foods and restaurant meals is so extreme that significant reductions can probably be achieved without anyone really noticing. And that seems to be exactly the idea. We can ratchet down sodium content in increments, gradually deconditioning our taste for it in such unhealthy quantities.1
Aside: Despite my long-held pseudo-belief that salt equals taste, I have often wondered how people can stand the thrombotic amounts of salt on most brands of chips, and why the Big Junk chip industrial complex thinks we want that much salt. Wouldn’t it be economically prudent of them to settle on the least proportion of each ingredient consistent with maximum sales? I assume they operate thus. But I for one could eat and buy more chips than I do, and I quite possibly would—if they weren’t so damn salty. Surely there’s livable middle ground between, for example, the peanut-flavored salt pebbles commonly branded as “low salt peanuts” and their distant unsalted relations.
Anyway, a move by the FDA to reduce sodium consumption would be smart policy on a number of levels. Obviously excessive sodium consumption contributes to major health risks for heart disease and stroke (the number one and number three leading causes of death in America), and any reasonable means of mitigating those risks is worthy of consideration. It would also be good for the official government line on the health risks of sodium to be a little more discriminating than the current “generally recognized as safe” category that salt falls under. And just by opening public discussion of a potential regulatory regime, the FDA will further encourage efforts already under way, such as the voluntary reductions that Big Junk leaders like Pepsico and Kraft have recently announced.
Hat tip to Kevin Drum, who seems particularly intrigued by the announcement that Pepsico, who owns Lay’s, is market testing a new designer salt which allegedly could cut sodium content in chips 25% or more without affecting taste.
- There’s no actual regulatory activity yet, and anyway it’s probably much too early in the process for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) to be involved, but this whole scheme has more than a hint of “nudge” to it, and über-nudge theorist Cass Sunstein is the head of Obama’s OIRA. OIRA, part of the Office of Management and Budget, coordinates the regulatory efforts of all the executive branch agencies. [↩]
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