Stop the Salt

Some people have had the courage to openly support an outright ban the use of any salt in the preparation of restaurant food. Unlike many others, I think this is a great idea. If people want salt in their food, then they should put it in their own food. As a great cook I have not used salt for decades and I make some pretty sensational dishes. There are all kinds of non-salt seasonings available.

When I shop for packaged foods one of the things I examine closely is the sodium content and do not buy those with high salt content. Some canned soups now are sold in low salt versions and healthy frozen dinners generally also offer low salt levels.

New York State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz who introduced a restaurant salt ban bill said: "In this way, consumers have more control over the amount of sodium they intake, and are given the option to exercise healthier diets and healthier lifestyles." Makes perfect sense to me.

Salt is for lazy, uncreative cooks. And eaters who are addicted to salt need to get smarter and learn to appreciate all kinds of seasonings. While salt is not necessarily detrimental to everyone's health, for many people it does cause problems, including hypertension.

Naturally, there will be those who get terribly emotional and view such legislation as evil, freedom-grabbing government encroachment. But the simple fact is that Americans generally are unhealthy and eat loads of prepared foods laden with all the wrong things, especially saturated fats and salt.

In 2008 New York City Mayor Bloomberg introduced a voluntary sodium reduction initiative, which shows true leadership and good thinking. He gathered health experts and food-industry representatives and announced his plan to cut sodium levels in processed foods by 20 percent over the next five years. At the meeting, city health czar Thomas Frieden called high blood pressure, which is linked to excessive sodium intake, "the greatest public-health threat facing the city"

Consumers who want better health should support government policies that make the food industry offer healthier products. Let food companies, supermarkets and restaurants know your concern about wanting less salt in your food.