NYC Takes On Salt

The New York Times reports that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg plans to unveil a plan today to reduce the amount of salt in packaged foods and restaurants:

On Monday, after a year of consultations with industry, the city will release preliminary targets for sodium content. After a review, the city will unveil final targets in the spring and ask companies to commit to the program.

The system proposed by the city is complex, with reductions ranging from 10 to 40 percent for 61 classes of packaged foods and 25 classes of restaurant foods.

Like the City’s efforts against trans fats, compliance with the salt reductions will be voluntary.  But, recall that when voluntary compliance did not work with trans fats, the City passed legislation requiring restaurants to eliminate trans fats. So, stay tuned.

– SBS