EDITORIAL: Food companies sign on for less salt

Sixteen food companies have signed on to help Americans consume less salt. That's good news for anyone who doesn't like the prospect of bureaucrats dictating what they eat.

Right now the government doesn't get between you and the salt in the soups, bacon, muffins, salad dressings, lunch meats and other processed foods and restaurant fare that account for most of the 3,400 milligrams of sodium that the average American consumes each day. The recommended daily amount is 1,500 to 2,400 milligrams - less than a teaspoon.

All that salt is a major cause of high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes, conditions that cause about 800,000 preventable deaths a year and cost billions of dollars in health care expenses. Kicking the habit isn't as easy as pushing the shaker away. Most of the salt we eat is added to foods before they're sold. So the Institute of Medicine recently urged the Food and Drug Administration to gradually reduce the amount of salt that manufacturers and restaurants can add.

There will be little need for that if the National Salt Reduction Initiative achieves its goal of voluntarily reducing consumption by 20 percent in five years. Companies like Kraft Foods Inc., Starbucks, Subway and FreshDirect have joined up. Others should, too. Weaning ourselves won't be easy, for one obvious reason: Salt makes food taste good. But gradually using less should make this healthy change palatable. hN