Should Salt Be Banned in Restaurant Food Preparation?
Salt Shaker Godogo on Flickr Paul Frumkin reports in Nation’s Restaurant News that New York Assemblyman Felix Ortiz has introduced a bill that would ban the use of salt in the preparation of restaurant food across the state. Ortiz says the ban would give more control to restaurant customers by allowing them to add salt to their own meals after they have been prepared and, thus, “exercise healthier diets and healthier lifestyles.” Ortiz goes on to say, “Studies have also proven that lowering the amount of salt people eat, even by small amounts, could reduce cases of heart disease, stroke, and heart attacks as much as reductions in smoking, obesity, and cholesterol levels.” Being part of a voluntary initiative like New York’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene National Salt Reduction Initiative — which seeks to cut the levels of sodium in restaurant and packaged foods by 20 percent over
