Obama Administration Goes After Salt

The Obama administration is setting sodium limits for nearly every food imaginable, the latest in a series of efforts to change how Americans eat.

The voluntary standards are meant to nudge restaurants and the food industry into reducing the amount of sodium in foods they serve. And the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is offering its preferred salt amounts for everything from Gouda cheese to fish jerky.

The administration said the purpose of the sodium limits are to “support increased food choice.”

“Every day, Americans are getting too much sodium in their diet, and the majority comes from processed and prepared foods, not the salt shaker,” the FDA said. “That is why we have developed draft guidance with sodium reduction targets to encourage industry to gradually reduce sodium in a wide range of foods.”

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