FDA Action on Sodium Intake Among IOM Recommendations
At the request of Congress, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has prepared and released a report titled “Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake in the United States.” Starting from the premise that “Americans consume unhealthy amounts of sodium in their food,” which puts some 100,000 at risk of premature death from conditions related to high blood pressure, the report calls for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to “set mandatory national standards for the sodium content in foods—not banning outright the addition of salt to foods but beginning the process of reducing excess sodium in processed foods and menu items to a safer level.” According to IOM, this reduction must be carried out gradually so consumers’ tastes could adjust, a process that could take up to 10 years.
Other recommendations include an FDA modification of the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status of sodium-containing compounds added to processed foods—“that is, change the level to which the use of such compounds is considered safe.” IOM also calls on the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary to design and implement a nationwide campaign to reduce sodium intake and to “set a timeline for achieving the sodium intake levels established by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” According to IOM, consumers and a range of stakeholders have a role to play in this initiative which “will require preliminary data-gathering, dialogue among stakeholders, and careful analysis of food supply data.”
IOM calls for research in three areas: learning how the taste preference for salt develops throughout the lifespan; coming up with ways to reduce sodium content while maintaining foods’ palatability, physical properties and safety; and “enhancing current understanding of factors that impact consumer awareness and behavior relative to sodium reduction.” The IOM report committee is clear about the inability of “the patchwork of voluntary approaches that have been implemented over the years” to reduce the sodium content of the overall food supply.
Initial press reports suggested that FDA would immediately undertake regulatory steps to reduce the sodium levels in foods, but the agency clarified that it is “not currently working on regulations.” The agency is apparently evaluating the IOM report recommendations and notes that HHS “will be establishing an interagency working group on sodium” to review available options and decide on future action. While FDA has not decided whether to regulate sodium, a spokeswoman reportedly indicated that “no options are off the table.”
Meanwhile, Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), responding to the report, reportedly urged FDA to act swiftly to address what they called a “public health crisis.” According to Harkin, “I understand they want to do it in a phased kind of a deal, but I don’t want it to be too long. This is crying out for change that’s long overdue.” Echoing these concerns, Michael Jacobson, the executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) said, “Limiting salt in packaged and restaurant foods is perhaps the single most important thing that the Food and Drug Administration could do to save hundreds of thousands of lives and save billions of dollars in health-care expenses. The FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture should quickly implement the Institute of Medicine’s recommendations, starting with mandatory limits on salt, which could be phased in gradually over time.”
A spokesperson for the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) reportedly indicated that industry would prefer to continue voluntary efforts to reduce the sodium levels in processed foods and restaurant meals. Calling regulation unnecessary, GMA’s Scott Faber was quoted as saying, “There’s certainly a role for government [regulation] in the school environment—school lunches and vending machines. But it’s less clear that the government has a role with regard to products that are sold widely throughout the marketplace.” The organization also apparently claimed, “Sodium is an important ingredient that plays a critical role in flavor enhancement as well as an important functional role in food safety and preservation.” See The Washington Post, April 20 and 21, 2010; The New York Times, CSPI Press Release and
FDA News Release, April 20, 2010.
