With Thanksgiving now upon us, the holiday season has well and truly arrived. This not being a diet blog, I will most likely be indulging with the best of them. Well it would be rude not to, wouldn't it?
However, while the marketers are encouraging us to stuff it all in (if you're UK based, like me, 'this is not just food…', after all), the media at large are busy reminding us just how much fat, salt and potential foodborne pathogens we will be putting away over the party season.
The New York Times kicked off the annual scare-fest with a reminder that the US food industry may not be policing its use of salt as rigorously as the medical profession would like it to. In a hearing scheduled for next week - one week after Thanksgiving - the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the American Medical Association will put forward their case to the Food and Drug Administration. They believe that the FDA and the US government in putting far too little pressure on the food industry to cut the levels of salt found in processed foods. Although the New York Times was keen to point that the industry itself has already been in talks with the CSPI behind closed doors, that the amount of salt added to processed foods is, by and large, inching its way down and that major manufacturers like ConAgra, who produce some brands that are very popular with kids were well aware of the issue and are actively reducing salt levels in their products.
Other foods, according to the CSPI are letting the side down. Sliced cheese and frozen pizza were singled out for particular criticism.
So what's to be done? The US could embark on a public information strategy like the UK's 'Full of It' campaign. In Finland, 'high-salt' labels on food may be responsible for the nation's average sodium intake having dropped by 40% over the past 30 years, as has the incidence of strokes. The World Health Organisation has also intervened, calling on the world's food processors to act responsible and reduce the use of salt and encouraging governments to educate consumers. Everyone's in on the action and it's only a matter of time before the US makes a decisive move.
Need more info on salt, food and health? CAB Abstracts really is 'Full of it'!
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