A report by the Institute of Medicine recommends changing federal standards to require a marked reduction in the amount of sodium that can be added to food by manufacturers, restaurants, and food service companies.
The report on strategies to reduce sodium intake recommends an incremental stepwise approach that would gradually reduce sodium content to allow people to become accustomed to lower sodium levels in food.
Excessive dietary sodium intake in the United States is an “urgent public health problem,” Dr. Jane E. Henney, chair of the committee that wrote the report, said during a briefing held by the IOM.
The report's main recommendation calls for the Food and Drug Administration to set mandatory standards for the safe levels of sodium that is added to food, utilizing the agency's authority to modify the current “Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)” status of salt and other sodium-containing compounds.
The report also suggested that maximum levels be established for salt and other sodium-containing compounds “that will allow people to consume a normal diet with a reasonable likelihood of keeping their sodium intake to recommended levels,” Dr. Henney added.
Reducing sodium intake has the potential to prevent 100,000 deaths per year and save billions in health care costs, she said. While a certain level of sodium intake is safe, the amount consumed by the average person in the United States is “far beyond” the essential levels needed, noted Dr. Henney, professor of medicine at the University of Cincinnati.
People in the United States consume an average of more than 3,400 mg of sodium a day (the amount in about 1.5 teaspoons of salt), which is about 50% higher than the recommended maximum recommended intakef 2,300 mg for adults (the amount in about 1 teaspoon of salt).
Because the use of a maximum level of intake can be mistakenly perceived as a desirable amount, the report recommends that the daily value for sodium be changed to 1,500 mg per day, which is the adequate intake for adults.
Dr. Henney said that the FDA should “expeditiously” start the process of rule making that will be needed to change the amount allowed in food, which is a long process.
A statement issued by the FDA in response to the release of the IOM report said that the agency plans to review the report's recommendations and will “build plans for how the FDA can continue to work with other federal agencies, public health and consumer groups, and the food industry to support the reduction of sodium levels in the food supply.”
In addition, an interagency working group on sodium will be established by of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The IOM report, done at the request of Congress in 2008, was sponsored by the FDA; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at HHS.
The report is available at www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/Strategies-to-Reduce-Sodium-Intake-in-the-United-States.aspx
The IOM, citing an “urgent public health problem,” says the daily value for sodium should be 1,500 mg/day.
Source Louise A. Koenig/Elsevier Global Medical News
Source Elsevier Global Medical News