Bill A10129 would fine restaurateurs $1000 (about R7000) each time they were caught adding salt to food.
Felix Ortiz, a Brooklyn democrat is trying to lower the risk of heart disease and the government spend on high blood pressure related illnesses.
The telegraph.co.uk explains ‘The administration of Michael Bloomberg, New York City’s mayor, has already outlawed smoking from many public areas, banned unhealthy trans fats from prepared food and ordered many restaurants to list the calories in each item on the menu. He also favours a new tax on sweet fizzy drinks to help cut obesity.’
Ortiz says his bill is designed to save lives, just like laws that ban the use of trans fats and require chain restaurants to post nutrition information.
“You can live with salt in your diet. The problem in our society is excess salt,” said Sonia Angell, director of the cardiovascular disease and prevention program for the Health Department.
Angell is behind the city’s new push to get food producers and restaurants to cut sodium content by 25% over the next five years. That includes prepared foods like canned soups and frozen dinners, as well as fast-food meals that can have twice the recommended amount of salt for an entire day.
“Fast food is loaded with sodium, but in a kitchen that’s doing fine dining, the use of salt is moderate,” said John DeLucie, chef at The Waverly Inn and the soon-to-be opened Lion.
“There’s a ridiculous amount of salt in processed foods, but what I use is not a salt bomb like that. It’s to taste.”
What do you think?
Reference: nydailynews.com/telegraph.co.uk