Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on April 21, 2010

Latest from Team Obama's Food Police power-grabs... FDA wants to regulate salt in processed foods - how long before they regulate salt in American homes?

Once the Obama administration has finished up with its insufferable nanny-state food regulations for Americans, all that will be left for approved consumption will be organic arugula, soy milk, rutabagas, and wheat germ.

And maybe hamburgers. It’s no secret how much POTUS and FLOTUS love their meat juices-dripping cheeseburgers. And don’t forget the Dijon mustard.

Barack and his cheeseburger... paradise (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Any takers on there soon being a new “sin tax” on salt levied by the nanny-state Obama administration on Americans?

From Washington Post, FDA plans to limit amount of salt allowed in processed foods for health reasons:

The Food and Drug Administration is planning an unprecedented effort to gradually reduce the salt consumed each day by Americans, saying that less sodium in everything from soup to nuts would prevent thousands of deaths from hypertension and heart disease. The initiative, to be launched this year, would eventually lead to the first legal limits on the amount of salt allowed in food products.

The government intends to work with the food industry and health experts to reduce sodium gradually over a period of years to adjust the American palate to a less salty diet, according to FDA sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the initiative had not been formally announced.

Officials have not determined the salt limits. In a complicated undertaking, the FDA would analyze the salt in spaghetti sauces, breads and thousands of other products that make up the $600 billion food and beverage market, sources said. Working with food manufacturers, the government would set limits for salt in these categories, designed to gradually ratchet down sodium consumption. The changes would be calibrated so that consumers barely notice the modification.

The legal limits would be open to public comment, but administration officials do not think they need additional authority from Congress.

[...]

Morton Satin, director for technical and regulatory affairs at the Salt Institute, which represents salt producers, said regulation “would be a disaster for the public.” He said that the science regarding sodium is unclear and that consumption does not necessarily lead to health problems.

Before a few of you start nodding your “big government loves me” bobble heads in agreement, be aware that there is no science to back up this salt regulation. In fact, per an Einstein University study, no- and low-sodium diets are linked to earlier deaths.

Curses on that pesky science…

From Right Pundits, FDA Salt Regulation: No Salt For You!:

The FDA, or you can call them “Mommy”, will be forcing working with the food industry to lower salt slowly, like how you want band-aids removed. It’s all in an effort to get those naughty Americans to stop making decisions for themselves and start doing what Mommy says by sheer force.

Your sweat tea is next.

Americans are reportedly consuming twice what the government recommends. And government doesn’t like it. The FDA says the move is to help prevent deaths from hypertension and heart disease.

However, an extensive study in 2008 by the Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University found a higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease in people consuming lower sodium diets, not higher.

[...]

After factoring in risk factors like smoking, diabetes and blood pressure, the sample of individuals with the lowest sodium diet were 80% more likely to die from cardiovascular disease. In fact, no- and low-salt consumers were 24% more likely to die from any cause.

In other words, salt might save your life. But in the meantime, the FDA might inadvertently kill you.

Salt is necessary for life. It is found in every human fluid, like our blood and sweat and tears. It’s necessary for the transmission of nerve impulses, hydration, pH levels, absorption of minerals, digestion, insulin balance, to fight infections, to clean wounds, essential for the aging and the pregnant, necessary to fight off iodine deficiency, etc, etc. It’s also very tasty.

From Hot Air, Great news: FDA to regulate salt in processed foods:

The FDA has never interjected itself into the recipes of prepared foods. Instead, they have enforced full disclosure on labels, allowing consumers to select the healthiest options for themselves if they wish. Why the change? The FDA says we can’t choose for ourselves:

Until now, the government has pushed the food industry to voluntarily reduce salt and tried to educate consumers about the dangers of excessive sodium. But in a study to be released Wednesday, an expert panel convened by the Institute of Medicine concludes that those measures have failed. The panel will recommend that the government take action, according to sources familiar with the findings.

Of course they will! But there’s just one little problem. According to the latest research, sodium intake isn’t really a health problem for normal adults. An Einstein University study in 2008 showed no connection between cardiovascular disease risk and higher-sodium diets.

From Moe Lane, RedState, The Democrats’ War on Bacon. Salt, too:

Let me just add my name to the list of people visibly itching to bounce a salt shaker off of the FDA’s collective forehead…

…because, of course, the FDA has nothing better to do with its time. Look, I understand that the nanny-state Left doesn’t trust its own judgment and ability to make informed decisions, and that’s fine. In fact, I agree with them: I don’t trust their judgment or ability to make informed decisions, either. But why do they insist on trying to interfere with my judgment or ability to make informed decisions? – Aside from them generally being annoying neo-Puritan gloom-magnets, of course.

From The Lonely Conservative, FDA to Make Food Taste Worse, Spoil Faster:

Salt is the latest target of the federal government. Yes, salt. A natural substance used for centuries to preserve food while enhancing flavor is the newest “crisis” that must be addressed by government bureaucrats.

[...]

Expect food to start tasting worse and spoiling faster.

From Legal Insurrection, The Upside Of Salt Regulation – Job Creation:

Will the law also prohibit people from adding salt to their under-salted processed foods? Can the salt police be far behind?

Would that be too much of a slippery slope too?

Of course, by hiring salt police we also would create jobs! Finally, the Obama administration has a jobs plan.

From an earlier Legal Insurrection post, Leave Our Salt Alone…

Behold a proposal by a Democratic New York Assemblyman to ban restaurants from using salt in cooking:

“No owner or operator of a restaurant in this state shall use salt in any form in the preparation of any food for consumption by customers of such restaurant, including food prepared to be consumed on the premises of such restaurant or off of such premises,” the bill, A. 10129, states in part.

The legislation, which Assemblyman Felix Ortiz , D-Brooklyn, introduced on March 5, would fine restaurants $1,000 for each violation.

Don’t think that once the newly created government bureaucracies under Obamacare start passing regulations they won’t tell you how to live?

Then you haven’t been paying attention.

Update: And then they came for the pizza.

More… from Moe Lane, RedState: You may need to stockpile Heinz ketchup.

September 13, 2010, UPDATE… FLOTUS can’t help herself, poor thing… from Doug Powers, Michelle Malkin: First Lady Gets Into the Restaurant’s Business

Categories: Food, Drink, Government, Law & Constitution, Social and Political Climate
Tags: America, banned foods, Barack Obama, Democrats, FDA, FLOTUS, food, Food and Drug Administration, food control, food police, freedom, Michelle Obama, Nanny State, Obama administration, POTUS, regulations, salt, salt law, salt regulation, socialism, socialist, tax, Team Obama