Don't Pass the Salt! NYC Mayor Calls for Salt Reduction

Mayor Bloomberg is a stickler for healthy living! In a city that never sleeps and is known for an excess of anything and everything, it will soon be known as a place with less... less salt that is. The New York Times reports that Mayor Bloomberg's administration has announced a broad new health initiative that aims to encourage salt reduction. The salt reduction initiative is not a salt law, but it would encourage food manufacturers and food chains to reduce the amount of salt in their offerings.

The salt reduction initiative is gaining support with health agencies in other cities and states because of public health experts who recommend salt reduction as a way to prevent high blood pressure, strokes, and heart attacks. While the initiative is not mandatory, it will allow companies to phase out salt over the next five years.

Dr. Thomas Farley, the New York City health commissioner, told the New York Times: "We all consume way too much salt, and most of the salt we consume is in the food when we buy it." Dr. Farley believes that if companies reduce the amount of salt they use in their products, it would actually save lives.

Some speculate that this salt reduction initiative can lead the way to a salt law. As we can recall, there was a call for a voluntary ban on trans fats in New York City. When that voluntary ban did not work, the city pushed back with a trans fat law. Will there be a salt law in our midst soon? Well any lawyer worth his salt would tell you no. Since salt is in practically everything, it would too hard to regulate so many companies and products. 

Related Resources:

• New California Law Bans Trans Fats in Restaurants (FindLaw's Common Law)
• New Jersey Senate Passes A New Calorie Law (FindLaw's Common Lawg)
• Would an NY Cigarette Tax and NY Soda Tax Be Healthy?  (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)