The Scoop on Sodium

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Attempts to Change Sodium Labeling

Two big players—the Center for Science in the Public Interest (a consumer advocacy group) and the American Medical Association—have asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for new regulations that help people understand and limit how much sodium they consume.

The medical association suggests that foods with 480 milligrams or more of sodium per serving be clearly labeled as high in sodium.

“If the government told all food manufacturers to cut the sodium, it would make it easier for all of the companies to do that,”says Michael Jacobson, Ph.D., executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. “Companies fear that if they’re the only maker of bread or sausage that is lowering the sodium, their products won’t taste as good as their competitors’ products that are higher in sodium.”

“Ninety percent of people in the United States eventually get high blood pressure,” says Stephen Havas, M.D., adjunct professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “One of the driving forces for this is long-term exposure to excess sodium.”

Learn more about high blood pressure.