The Food and Drug Administration – the federal agency with regularyory authority over American food – is out of control! The agency is moving forward to restrict salt despite the latest scientific evidence that questions salt's connection to cardiovascular disease and in the face of a 2013 IOM report that said there is no good evidence that eating sodium at very low levels is better for our health. From New York Daily News:
Brian Kennedy of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents the country's biggest food companies, says the group is concerned about the FDA setting targets and any guidelines should be based on a "rigorous assessment of all available scientific evidence."
The food industry has pointed to a separate 2013 IOM report that said there is no good evidence that eating sodium at very low levels — below the 2,300 milligrams a day that the government recommends — offers benefits. The government recommends that those older than 50, African-Americans and people with high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease eat 1,500 milligrams a day. The American Heart Association recommends that everyone eat no more than 1,500 milligrams a day.
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Still, the guidelines could be a hard sell. In recent years, congressional Republicans have fought the Obama administration over efforts to require calorie labels on menus and make school lunches healthier. When the administration attempted to create voluntary guidelines for advertising junk food for children, the industry balked and Republicans in Congress fought the idea, prompting the administration to put them aside.
Other members of Congress are pushing the agency to act.
Why is the FDA aggressively pushing restaurants and food companies to reduce their salt when the latest research clearly indicates current levels are perfectly healthy? The FDA's overreach proves without a doubt that the agency is driven by a political agenda; not science.