Halt the Salt

Salt -- also known as sodium chloride -- is key for regulating fluids in the body. But too much can cause high blood pressure. The average American consumes 3,353 milligrams of sodium every day -- more than twice what the Institute of Medicine says is adequate for healthy people and 1,000 milligrams more than the recommended maximum.

Salt added by home cooks or at the dinner table accounts for only about 10 percent of total sodium intake. Some 75 percent of the salt consumed in the United States is found in processed foods bought at a grocery store, vending machine, restaurant or fast-food franchise.

In a historic first,The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group, and the Grocery Manufacturers Association, an industry group, co-sponsored a conference to encourage food companies, restaurants, health professionals and government agencies to help Americans stay below the 2,300-milligram daily limit set by the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines.

According to CSPI's executive director, Michael F. Jacobson, "Reducing the amount of salt in processed foods and restaurant foods is perhaps the single most important thing we could do to reduce blood pressure and the incidence of heart attacks and strokes in this country and around the world," Jacobson says. "It's something that the food industry and government regulators are taking increasingly seriously."