Menu

Statement

Public Health Institute Statement of Support for New Sodium Reduction Targets

PHI applauds today’s announcement of draft guidance for the first federal targets for voluntary reductions of salt in processed and restaurant foods. The guidance offers two and ten year targets for sodium reduction in a wide range of food categories. Excess salt intake is a key contributing factor to high blood pressure and stroke, the leading cause of death in the United States. This is an important first step for our country.   

Statement from Lynn Silver, MD, MPH, Senior Advisor on Chronic Disease Prevention at the Public Health Institute

PHI applauds today’s announcement of draft guidance for the first federal targets for voluntary reductions of salt in processed and restaurant foods. The guidance offers two and ten year targets for sodium reduction in a wide range of food categories. Excess salt intake is a key contributing factor to high blood pressure and stroke, one of the leading causes of death in the United States. This is an important first step for our country.

Today’s announcement, by U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, is the culmination of calls from the public health, medical and consumer protection since 1977 to reduce salt in processed and restaurant  foods. These recommendations build on efforts of the New York City-led National Salt Reduction Initiative (of which PHI is a member),  and of First Lady Michelle Obama’s work to obtain salt reduction commitments from food producers. We know this approach works: the United Kingdom’s voluntary targets, implemented a decade ago, has contributed to a reduction in high blood pressure and stroke there.

Nevertheless, this important guidance, once finalized, will require rigorous follow through and independent monitoring of progress in reducing salt in the food supply over the coming years. If food manufacturers fail to meet these voluntary targets, mandatory regulation will be needed in the future.

We congratulate the FDA and the administration for moving forward on this critical public health issue and call on the food industry to make the needed changes in their products. Lives are still  lost unnecessarily every day due to excess sodium consumption–it’s time for that to change.

The draft guidance is open for comments. We encourage consumers, public health advocates and others to show their support for the recommendations.


More Updates

Work With Us

You change the world. We do the rest. Explore fiscal sponsorship at PHI.

Bring Your Work to PHI

Support Us

Together, we can accelerate our response to public health’s most critical issues.

Donate

Find Employment

Begin your career at the Public Health Institute.

See Jobs

Mural and kids' paintings hanging on a fence at a playground

Close

New Public Health Primer: Engaging Community Development for Health Equity

How can the public health and community development sectors to work together to advance health and racial equity? A new primer from PHI’s Build Healthy Places Network and partners provides a roadmap for forging upstream partnerships, with recommendations, strategies and lessons-learned from national, state and local leaders.

Explore the primer

Continue to PHI.org