Salt Warning Labels Required in New York City Chain Restaurants

Starting Tuesday, some restaurants across New York City are required to roll out new menus highlighting high-sodium items.

The new rule from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, approved unanimously by the Board of Health back in September, applies to chain restaurants or those with a minimum of 15 establishments in the country.

“Too few understand the link between high sodium intake and hypertension, heart disease, and stroke”, said Mary Bassett, city health commissioner. New York City officials hope that the rule will spur other cities to adopt similar guidelines for restaurants. But salt producers say the city is acting on myths about the risk of salt and cite a study from a year ago which showed most people’s salt intake was normal for a healthy heart.

“Every one of these cumbersome new laws makes it tougher and tougher for restaurants to find success”, said New York State Restaurant Association President Melissa Fleischut after the approval according to WABC-TV. This means that customers will see the salt shaker sign on meals that contain more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium.

The average American takes in about 3,400 mg of salt daily and only about one in 10 in the US meets the 1 tablespoon measurement, according to the AP.

Just how salty is your favorite fast food go-to? The city has been at the forefront of trying to promote healthy dining and passed a requirement almost a decade ago that chain restaurants post calorie counts in a bid to encourage diners to lower their calorie intake.

The health department named cardiovascular disease ats the leading cause of death in New York City – responsible for 17,000 deaths in 2013.

Doctors have long known that a high-salt diet can promote cardiovascular disease, inflammation, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions. For example, a 2014 study examined more than 2,500 items from chain restaurants in the Philadelphia, Penn., region.

Jim O’Hara, the director of Health Promotion Policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit and consumer advocacy group, said he is hopeful the labeling will lead to a reduced-sodium diet for those purchasing food in NY. The chain, which declined to comment on the association’s plan to sue, also removed salt from its bread bowl and its Italian combo sandwich. The ruling was overturned by a judge a year later. Now, the FDA requires restaurants nationwide with 20 or more locations to display calorie counts on their menus. “Local mandates like the one the board of health put forth unravel that uniformity”.

Zane Tankel, chairman and CEO of New York-area Applebee’s franchisee Apple-Metro, was quoted in an NBC report as saying that the icon gives customers more information.