An Institute of Medicine report recommends changing federal standards to require a marked reduction in the amount of sodium that can be added to food by manufacturers, restaurants, and food service companies.
The report on strategies to reduce sodium intake recommends an incremental stepwise approach that would gradually reduce sodium content to allow people to become accustomed to lower sodium levels in food.
Excessive dietary sodium intake in the United States is an “urgent public health problem,” Dr. Jane E. Henney, chair of the committee that wrote the report, said during a briefing held by the IOM.
The report's main recommendation calls for the Food and Drug Administration to set mandatory standards for the safe levels of sodium that is added to food. Reducing sodium intake has the potential to prevent 100,000 deaths per year and save billions in health care costs, she said. The average amount consumed in the United States is “far beyond” the essential levels needed, noted Dr. Henney, professor of medicine at the University of Cincinnati—an average of more than 3,400 mg of sodium a day, or about 50% more than the recommended maximum recommended intake of 2,300 mg.
A statement issued by the FDA in response to the release of the IOM report said that the agency plans to review the report's recommendations and will “continue to work with other federal agencies, public health and consumer groups, and the food industry to support the reduction of sodium levels in the food supply.” In addition, an interagency working group on sodium will be established by of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The IOM report, done at the request of Congress in 2008, was sponsored by the FDA; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at HHS.
The report is available at www.iom.edu/Reports/2010/Strategies-to-Reduce-Sodium-Intake-in-the-United-States.aspx