Sunday's New York Times featured a front-page article by Michael Moss discussing the food industry’s efforts to avoid regulatory limits on the salt content of processed foods: “By all appearances, this is a moment of reckoning for salt. High blood pressure is rising among adults and children. Government health experts estimate that deep cuts in salt consumption could save 150,000 lives a year.”
“The article made no mention whatsoever of the fact that there could be contrary opinion of salt as a leading cause of hypertension,” says ACSH’s Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. “They take it as a given that salt alone is causing all of these deaths, when in fact there are very few people with high blood pressure who are sensitive to salt. It’s true that hypertension is a very serious risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease, and that it really demands our attention. But the real question is: Which would be more effective, getting all of the sodium purged from our food or screening for hypertension? The latter would save many more lives, but this article doesn’t acknowledge the possible benefits of getting your blood pressure checked regularly.”
Nor does Corby Kummer, who used Moss’ Times article to argue in The Atlantic that the regulation of salt is “looking better and better.”
ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross isn’t surprised: “Once again, this article is completely one-sided. He says, ‘Well, if low-salt crackers taste terrible, the food companies should make better crackers.’ His solution, of course, is that food companies should be using less sodium in their products, and he obviously does not give a voice to those who see regulations forcing food companies to do so as governmental overreach. By the way, a recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that hypertension is not ‘rising among adults,’ as Moss asserted.”
