Regulations On Salt?

[mlmpetert]

Do you think you personally should make a decision on buying food that is considered high in sodium or do you think the government should make that decision for you?

washingtonpost.com

[mlmpetert]

Also in the last 2 years we have seen flavored cigarettes become illegal, proposal for menthol cigarettes to be banned, trans fats bans, and salt reduction bills.

What do yout think is next?

[CRedskinsRule]

Clearly the government limits all sort of stuff. I am not saying they should be doing this, but you can always add salt to your liking, hard to take it away once it's in there.

[RobH4413]

I'm 100% for this for a couple of reasons.

1) I have ridiculously high blood pressure, and can't eat any of the shit that's out there. I have to buy all this no salt added crap.

2) It's not like it's something you can't just add back in it.

I'm all for soft paternalism, and this seems right there.

Maybe instead of limiting all the salt, we offer the "low sodium" choice as the default. If you want more salt, ask for the higher sodium one. That would be my only thing that I might try different.

[FRPLG]

I see no reason for this. There are lower salt alternatives all over the place. I just don't think it is the govt's job to impose individual values onto it's citizens.

[MTK]

I can hear it now, "keep your gov't hands off my salt shaker!"

Seriously though, I don't see anything wrong with regulating the ridiculously high sodium content of processed food and even restaurant food.

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by mlmpetert

Also in the last 2 years we have seen flavored cigarettes become illegal, proposal for menthol cigarettes to be banned, trans fats bans, and salt reduction bills.

What do yout think is next?

Sin tax on soda.

[saden1]

Too much of anything is bad for you...limiting the amount of slat in processed food which these manufactures have to obtain licenses to produce and sell seems like a sensible thing to do....promote general welfare strikes again!

get'em, get'em!

[hooskins]

No problems here. If you really want to be fat, just buy your own salt and take it with you wherever you go. Or boycott going out. But wait, by doing that you will inherently eat healthier food and less salt.

Either way Big Brother owns you.

[MTK]

What we really need is a drastic overhaul of the way our food is grown and produced. We've got animals jacked up on steroids and antibiotics. The water supply is going to shit, processed foods are full of sugar, salt, and are basically void of nutrition. Kids are fatter than ever and don't get enough exercise, nobody knows how to eat properly anymore and diabetes is a badge of honor it seems.

[FRPLG]

Or instead of the govt regulating the salt content people could just not buy the processed foods.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

I see no reason for this. There are lower salt alternatives all over the place. I just don't think it is the govt's job to impose individual values onto it's citizens.

Agreed.

And I can't stand salt, I mean I never add extra salt to anything and sometimes when I'm cooking I forget to add it from the start and don't even miss it

[RobH4413]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

I see no reason for this. There are lower salt alternatives all over the place. I just don't think it is the govt's job to impose individual values onto it's citizens.

Health is a value the government imposes all the time. There is a reason nutrition facts are available. There is a reason that there are limits to the amount of bacteria in a food, concentration of certain carcinogens, ways food are processed etc.

Are all of these things bad?

I'm not saying regulate everything to make it super-healthy perfect food... if you want to be fat go for it. But something as simple as sodium restrictions, which can be directly changed by something as simply as re-adding it into the food yourself... I don't see a downside.

I guess you could add the "slippery slope" argument... but really...if it leads to a healthier diet for the country, what's really at stake here? Our God given rights to be fat and lazy? Defend it valiantly if you like, but I don't see the fat and lazy putting up much of a fight.

[saden1]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

Or instead of the govt regulating the salt content people could just not buy the processed foods.

Or maybe we can have our government insure that food quality isn't compromised for those who can't afford organic food.

[FRPLG]

Originally Posted by saden1

Or maybe we can have our government insure that food quality isn't compromised for those who can't afford organic food.

Who said anything about organic? It's called buying natural ingredients and learning to cook. It's also generally cheaper than processed food that is bad for you beyond just the salt.

I guess I didn't realize that processed food is another plight of the poor. We should all do what were told by the gov't so that poor people can avoid figuring out how to take some responsibility right? Sorry but I'm not buying that the gov't should regulate salt content of processed food because poor only buy processed food...or can only afford processed food.