New York's Salt Policy

Monday's New York Times reported that Mayor Bloomberg is unveiling a new policy aimed at encouraging restaurants and food producers to use less salt in their offerings in order to address rampant health problems such as high blood pressure.

I love the fact that this guy has consistently shown that he is willing to address food issues with public policy, and that he understands the connection between healthy food and public health. But I also think that asking food manufacturers to use less salt in prepared food misses the point.

I've owned several companies that prepared food not intended for immediate consumption. I can tell you first hand that part of the reason most prepared food has such a high salt content is because food gets lets salty as it sits. We used to prepare everything so that it was just on the edge of tasting too salty, so that when we delivered it the following day it would taste just right. Very often I'll buy a convenience food product and feel appalled by the salt content listed on the label but when I eat it, it just doesn't taste that salty. Most convenience foods sit for so long that they need considerably more salt than they would if they were fresher, simply in order to taste salty enough. Salt also acts as a preservative, but that's a whole other story.

The solution? It's so simple, yet so complicated. Cook more. Eat more fresh food. Maybe someday we'll see a city policy encouraging that.