New CSPI Report Targets Sodium Levels in U.S. Chain Restaurant Foods

Citing the role of excess dietary sodium in the development of cardiovascular
disease and industry resistance to federal action mandating reductions,
the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) this week issued a report
claiming that the top 25 U.S. restaurant chains have failed to lower the
amount of sodium in nearly 3,000 menu items between 2012 and 2014.

“As a whole, the nation’s leading restaurants are failing miserably when
it comes to their patrons’ heart health,” CSPI Executive Director Michael
Jacobson said. “And, unfortunately, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has
failed for decades to tell the food industry to lower sodium and by how much.”

The public health watchdog reportedly analyzed restaurant sodium data
from Menustat.org, a New York City health department database providing
nutritional information about fare served at the nation’s largest restaurant
chains. See CSPI News Release, December 2, 2014.

Issue 547