Salt Talks: FDA Hearing Focuses on Policies/Regulation

06/12/07 Testifying at last week’s Food and Drub Administration’s hearing, Steven Havas, American Medical Association’s (AMA) vice president for science, quality and public health analogized that the number of U.S. deaths attributable to excess salt intake “is the equivalent of a jumbo jet with more than 400 passengers crashing every day of the year, year after year.”

U.S. consumers have a love affair with salt, ingesting six to 18 grams of salt daily, while the average person needs only .5 grams per day. The excess that Americans ingest leads to heart disease and strokes—number one and number three killers in the U.S. respectively.

However, the excess may not be coming in large part from consumers’ shakers. According to the American Heart Association (AHA), up to 75% of the sodium in American consumers’ diets is found in processed foods, such as condiments, soups, canned foods and prepared mixes.

So what can a health-conscious consumer do? Look for lower sodium salt alternatives. It sounds like a contradiction, but there are choices, such as sea salt, and many manufacturers and food processors are turning to these choices to offer better quality, healthier foods to consumers.

Alan Fisher, president of Oceans Flavor, a sea salt producer supplying the food industry stated, “In our conversations with customers and those who are discussing the use of natural low sodium sea salt, most are shifting their thinking to be out in front of the sodium reduction movement with their products.”

Consumers can and often do provoke change in the food industry, but the food industry is also driving the dynamic of healthier ingredients in the foods they produce. The FDA hearing on Thursday underscores this new positioning within the industry. Alan Kirchner, Ocean's Flavor CEO and Ty Smith of TekPack Inc attended the hearing. Kirchner remarked, “The fact that the AMA and AHA provided comments that strongly linked hypertension and other health issues to the levels of sodium in our diets provided a powerful message that we need to address this issue now. We’re pleased to offer an important, positive alternative.”