New York City Now Requires High-Sodium Labels in Restaurants

While it’s true that diets high in sodium are likely to be harmful for the estimated 70 million Americans with high blood pressure, there’s no good evidence that most Americans are now consuming too much salt, Dr. Aaron Carroll, a professor at Indiana University School of Medicine, told Science of Us. “Too few understand the link between high sodium intake and hypertension, heart disease, and stroke”, said Mary Bassett, city health commissioner.

But the best available research has found no indication that healthy people should cut down on their sodium – and, anyway, even if that were the case, the warnings probably wouldn’t work to change people’s ordering or eating behaviors, judging from previous menu-labeling attempts in NY and elsewhere. New York’s new rule on salt, which took effect this week, requires labeling of restaurant menu items that include more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium – about a teaspoonful. A T.G.I. Friday’s NY cheddar and bacon burger counts 4,280 mg, for example; a Chili’s boneless Buffalo chicken salad has 3,460 mg. And while it’s easy to review online nutritional information either at home or at the office, many time-starved consumers fail to research how much sodium is in their favorite menu items prior to their order. An global study involving 100,000 people suggested previous year that most people’s salt intake was OK for heart health, though other scientists faulted the study. In an article in Capital New York, NRA spokeswoman Christin Fernandez said the board “is dealing yet another blow” to numerous city’s locally owned restaurants.

Indeed, Apple Metro CEO Zane Tankel said adding the warnings won’t affect the bottom line at his Applebee’s in the area.

Health Department officials say they have clear authority to require the warnings and believe the public health benefits outweigh any burdens to restaurant owners.

The National Restaurant Association says it plans to file a lawsuit against the new requirement. The same argument can be made for salt content. In New York, chains account for about one-third of that city’s huge restaurant business. While eateries are expected to comply as of yesterday, the city will not start collecting fines until March.