The FDA states that excess salt in prepared food poses serious health issues for many, particularly for?

Question

seniors and African-Americans. Do you believe that the government should take the responsibility of controlling the amount of sodium in commercially prepared food?

Interesting, sage and slk. I did not know how African-Americans came by their salt sensitivity, so thank you.

Answer 1

Salt is a mineral that can damage a persons body from the inside out. When I had a job that was high in physical exercise, the salt would leave my body through my sweat glands & the excess wasn't a problem for me. Now that I not longer am active, I have had to reduce my sodium intake to under 1000mg daily. I usually try to keep it between 500-700mg, then if I eat a slice of pizza from a take-out on occasion, I know it won't effect me as badly as it could if my salt intake was high on a daily level, as it once was.

Processed & frozen foods are the worst & since the food manufacturers & distributors don't seem to be lowering the amount of sodium themselves, it might be time for the government to step in & require them to lower their salt levels in their products. Americans enjoy convenience foods & if they simply stopped buying the high sodium foods, it would send a message to the companies who make them.

No salt & low salt foods are pricier than the salty ones & this makes me wonder why they do this. Is it for taste or to cover something up, or a way to preserve the food for longer periods of time? We all know that shelf life is a concern, but perhaps going back to the basics are going to have to be introduced into the American was of life. Most of us are far too lazy & don't want to prepare beans when we can just open a can & that's going to be our downfall if the manufacturers keep pushing their high sodium & MSG laden products on us. Bland can be dealt with in other ways than the addition of sodium to enhance flavor. The FDA should step in, IMHO.

Answer 2

Excessive sodium is dangerous for ANY group including children. I do believe than similar to trans fats, there should be some action taken...in the case of sodium, limits on how much is included. At present there are so FEW prepared foods with low sodium/no salt added that consumers really have no choice when buying products but to buy what is there.

There are several health ills that sodium worsens considerably...and not just diseases that plague certain racial groups or age groups. Migraines is one. EVERYone should be cautionary and use sodium/salt in moderation..and READ nutrition labels.

Please do not think that only certain groups have issues like hypertension; diabetes high cholesterol, etc. Diabetes II is running rampant in the US - primarily due to obesity....and hypertension is an ill of way too many people and rising in the young...We eat too much processed food to begin with and have gotten away from cooking from scratch...so being an educated consumer re: nutrition is a good thing :-)

Answer 3

They control everything. Not always in the consumers interest.

How many times over the years have we heard, not to have too much of a certain product, only to be told a year later that the very same product is good for you. And ANOTHER product is now bad for you!

Look at how our grandparents ate? And they were a lot healthier than us. Population elimination. Bottom line.

Now we are so confused, as what not to eat, we will end up eating very little. Coming from Africa, I never saw any signs that salt affected African (Ethnic) people. We need a certain amount of salt in our diet. So what are they putting in the salt?

I won't even have an inoculation or flu injection today.

Answer 4

I cooked in a school lunch room for about 4 months. I was so upset over the gov't commodities that they fed the kids that I quit. Often just breakfast would succeed the daily recommended salt quantity for an adult much less a child and we had many black children in the school and it was a classic so all wore uniforms but some were already overweight and it was kind. thru 6 grade. Often reduced fat is replaced with extra salt. If you don't buy premade food you are much better off. Cook from scratch and you eliminate most of the mess.
Use frozen veggies and sea salt but you will also need iodine so also use a pinch of it. You can buy canned unsalted fruit and veggies. Just my observations. ;0)

Answer 5

Some folks don't seem to be affected by consuming a lot of salt. My father uses more salt than anyone I've ever known. He salts everything excessively before he even tastes it. He is 91, takes no medications, and his blood pressure is low. He walks many miles every day, has never smoked or drank, and is very upbeat - never gets angry, never worries, loves everyone. His father, two brothers, and a sister all died young of heart attacks. There must be a lot of different factors that determine how harmful salt is - I love salt as much as my dad does, and also don't have any health problems.

Answer 6

Only if they plan on taking responsibility to control everything - for instance, look at how much health damage comes from tobacco... surely they should stop that from being sold, right? Look how many deaths are caused by drunk driving - they should stop the sales of alcohol then, right? And they should stop behavior that results in sexually transmitted diseases, and should stop behavior that leads to traffic accidents, and that lead to accidents in the home, and ...

Each year, people expect the government to stop more and more of these things. And yet, people seem to believe the government should do this for free. There are costs - financial, as well as political and personal - to pay when turning things over to someone else to control, rather than controlling them ourselves.

Answer 7

Very interesting question, thank you! Now a bit of history to share with you. Back when slaves were taken, put on ships to cross the ocean, many, many lost their lives through dehydration. Most of the survivors had one thing in common, their bodies retained salt and water, necessary for them to survive in perilous conditions. These same things that saved their lives are the forerunners of high blood pressure and all the conditions it leads to Most of the African Americans are direct descents of those slaves and are genetically prone to hypertention, diabetes and all the health problems associated with it. I think labeling and education is urgently needed and sea salt replace the other types of hidden sodium. We owe it to ourselves to read labels. Too many lawsuits are out there, we need to take responsibility for ourselves.

Answer 8

I'd like the FDA and other govenment agencies to:

Fund research on health and nutrition more than they do.

Impose stricter regulations about labeling processed foods, labels should include more information, be easier to understand and read, and serving sizes should be realistic and uniform.

Periodically test foods to ensure the information on labels is accurate.

I'd also like to see health care providers spend more time educating people about good nutrition.

And I'd like for all of us to make the effort to educate ourselves and be far pickier when shopping. Buy fresh! :)

Answer 9

No, I don't.

The FDA needs to be involved with the safety of our food products and the cleanliness of it's production.

PEOPLE need to watch their diets, not the government. We are not children and we don't need a nanny.

We are adults, we can read, we can make choices...... it's up to us to be concerned about healthy choices, not "big brother".

I get so sick of it...like we are such idiots that we can't control our own behavior.

We can't blame the food manufacturers and processors, nor the supermarkets, nor the growers... if we have rotten diets-it's our fault and no one elses.

Answer 10

Well, since the "Government" is allegedly "We, the people", let's just stop purchasing those salt filled, heart stopping foods until the commercial industries stop putting so much salt into them; and lets stop encouraging the "Government" to make our choices for us.