Sodium

For decades, people have been ignoring advice to eat less salt — in large part because it's hard to avoid. Processed and restaurant foods are simply loaded with sodium. Now, under growing pressure from doctors, consumers, states, advocacy groups and even national-level advisors, big-name food companies are slashing sodium from soups, potato chips, sauces, condiments and other products. Last month, the Food and Drug Administration announced its intent to reduce salt in the American diet, beginning with a call for voluntary cutbacks from the food industry.

The Times' Oct. 15 editorial (" Wait a New York minute! ") on New York City's recent actions to improve nutrition misses the mark on several counts. We disagree with a number of the opinions expressed in the editorial regarding public health efforts by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to reduce the consumption of sodium and sugar-sweetened beverages First, Americans now consume nearly double the daily recommended amount of salt. More than 75% of this intake comes from processed foods and restaurant fare, over which consumers have little control.

What will it take to get Americans — and the food industrial complex — to get serious about taking some of the salt out of our diets? In September, a study in the American Journal of Health Promotion calculated that Americans could eliminate 11 million cases of hypertension, save $18 billion in medical costs and add 312,000 years to our collective lives by reducing our daily sodium intake from about 3,300 milligrams per day to the...

A report Monday that Mexican-style food contains too much fat and sodium--enough on some platters to constitute a stick of butter--is something that Janee Allegre is going to take with a grain of salt. "There's something wrong with everything you eat nowadays," the Huntington Beach woman said as she walked out of El Torito Grill in Costa Mesa after lunch Monday. "Every week, it's something different."

From the dim beginnings of the human race, people have craved salt. Early hominids sought out salt licks to satisfy their needs. The first agriculturists put it in their bread. As cities and towns began to develop, men established the first trading routes in order to put salt on their tables. In some countries, salt was traded ounce for ounce for gold.

Doctors recommend against eating more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day. Order a Denny's double cheeseburger and you'll consume 3,880 milligrams in one sitting, almost double the suggested daily allowance of salt. Denny's meals "are dangerously high in sodium," according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by a New Jersey man with the support of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit group active in nutrition and food safety issues.

If there's anything good about putting warning notices on packages of frankfurters, it's that the labels could say: Beware of Dog. A New Jersey lawsuit demanding cigarette-pack-type warnings on hot dogs is mainly a crank case by a veganism advocacy group, the sort of legal action that makes for headlines rather than meaningful consumer protection. That suit -- and another one filed just a day later in New Jersey demanding that Denny's restaurant menus include the sodium content of all its dishes (as well as a warning label about the dangers of salt)

Burger King is getting healthier -- or so the fast-food chain would have you believe. BK has unveiled a new menu that includes 10 dishes it says will appeal to diet- and fitness-conscious consumers. These taste treats include Caesar salads, smoothies and wraps. "We spent the last year analyzing every aspect of our business to better understand what our guests expect from the Burger King dining experience," says Steve Wiborg, the company's North American president. "We found that consumers wanted a broader range of menu options to complement our signature fire-grilled burgers.

Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream Serving size: 11 chips Sodium: 180 milligrams Fat: 10 grams Carbs: 15 g Protein: 2 g Calories: 160   Terra Thai Basil Curry Exotic Vegetable Chips Serving size: 15 chips Sodium: 100 mg Fat: 8 g Carbs: 18 g Protein: 0 g Calories: 140   Crisproot Sea Salt Casava Chips Serving size: 23 chips Sodium: 150 mg Fat: 7 g Carbs: 18 g...

Astronomers have found that the moon has a tail. Like the luminous plumes that stretch out from comets, a glowing 15,000-mile tail of sodium atoms streams from the moon, blown away from the sun by the solar wind--the constant flow of particles, including protons and electrons, that stream out from the sun. The tail is not visible to the naked eye, but instruments can see the faint orange glow of sodium.