New York City High-Salt Warnings Added To Menus

As of Tuesday, some NYC restaurant chains will post high-salt warnings on their menus in a bid to help New Yorkers make informed choices when it comes to their health.

NEW YORK — New York City is beginning a new era in nutritional warnings this week: Chain restaurants will have to start putting a special symbol on highly salty dishes.

First proposed in June, the New York City Board of Health unanimously approved the salt measure in September. Restaurant that serve more than the recommended amount of sodium aren’t in danger of being penalized, but must put a salt shaker inside a triangle on items that surpass the mark.

Add it to the list of firsts for New York City- the banning of trans fats, posting of calorie count intake and now a black and white picture of a salt shaker will now be commonplace on many city menus.

The law doesn’t apply to all restaurants, only ones that operate within the city and have more than 15 franchises active nationwide, as well as concession stands at some movie theaters and ballparks. This is equal to about one teaspoon of salt and the daily limit recommended by many nutritionists.

Although hypertension is a complex vascular disease with many origins, a well-established connection between sodium intake and blood pressure has been documented in the scientific literature. 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.

A new menu from Applebee’s restaurant is seen at one of its outlet in the Manhattan borough of New York City November 30, 2015.

Janet Kramer, a registered dietitian at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, said too much salt can affect the ability for blood to clot and harden blood vessels, leading to long-term effects on the kidney, cardiovascular system and even nervous system.

While eateries are expected to comply as of Tuesday, the city won’t start collecting fines until March 1.

Warning labels to appear on menu and combo items with at least 2,300 mg of sodium. My deepest concern is that the New York City mandate could also potentially open the door for other food icons, for example, next to items that contain higher-than-recommended amounts of sugar, iron or calcium, to name a few.

The association is pushing for a uniform menu and believes local regulations like the salt warning labels could unravel plans for that uniformity.

The new rule has already spurred restaurants to lower the sodium in their offerings.