Salt is getting closer to being banned in NYC restaurants
(Mirror Daily, United States) – The National Restaurant Association is planning to sue the Big Apple because New York City is adding warning labels on menus.
What’s happened is that the city officials have recently passed a regulation that requires chain restaurants with more than 15 locations to ad on their menus some warnings concerning high-sodium foods.
As over 380,000 businesses nationwide are part of the National Restaurant Association it should come as no surprise that they are offended by the law against salt and have announced they are going to sue the Department of Health from NYC.
However, this wouldn’t be the first time the NRA is suing New York because of a new health law. The same thing happened after Mayor Bloomberg tried to ban soda. Eventually, that said law was rejected and the NRA is probably hoping the same will happen to the new ‘salt law’.
The new law states that restaurant chains will have to put in their menus a salt-shaker emblem that will act as a warning for customers letting them know that a certain food item exceeds 2,300 milligrams of sodium. This quantity is the recommended daily limit.
Of course, the new legislation didn’t fall from the sky. It represents the growing concern on the high consumption of salt in America. Surveys have shown that the average American eats 3,400 milligrams of salt a day, which is over 1,000 milligrams more than the recommended amount. An increased consumption of sodium can influence your blood pressure and raise the risk for heart problems.
As we all know, the food with the highest quantity of salt can be found in fast-food restaurants. For example a cheddar and bacon burger can have up to 4,280 milligrams of sodium. Moreover, fast-food restaurants are also the one with more than 15 locations.
Despite the obvious health risks, chain restaurants are fighting the law complaining about it being unnecessary and also troublesome for the food industry. On the other hand, the Health Department and the supporters of this legislation believe that it should be absolutely normal for customers to be informed about what they are eating. Therefore, besides the main ingredients, they should know about condiments or any other addition to the meal they are ordering.
We shall see how this debate turns out if the NRA is going to sue New York City. Will salt win the battle?
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