Medpagetoday.com
REPORTS HERE that "two government health agencies hosted a joint public meeting on how to reduce Americans' consumption of salt just as a literature review called into question the wisdom of promoting salt-reduction policies for the general public."
"The FDA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture hosted a ... summit with stakeholders on "Reducing Sodium Consumption," which was attended by representatives from the food industry, food scientists, researchers, public health workers, and government officials."
"Presentations at the day-long meeting ranged from a diatribe from the salt industry blasting what it called "the myth of salt reduction" to calls from representatives of healthcare organizations, including the American Heart Association, urging the food industry to begin removing significant amounts of sodium from foods and government agencies such as the FDA to oversee the effort."
"The federal government's recommended daily allowance for sodium intake is 2,300 mg for the general population and 1,500 mg for high-risk populations -- anyone older than 50, African Americans, and anyone who has hypertension, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease. That covers about half of the U.S. population."
"Earlier this year, the American Heart Association (AHA) took that recommendation further, saying that no one should consume more than 1,500 mg of sodium in a given day."
"An FDA official said the agency will review information heard during the meeting, but it has no immediate plans to release a report, or to regulate how much salt can be added to foods."
"Meanwhile, in an updated analysis of an earlier review of 167 studies on salt and its health effects published Wednesday in the Cochrane Library, researchers confirmed salt's well-established effect on blood pressure, but said a low-sodium diet may actually lead to an increase in certain hormones, which could be harmful over time."
"In the review, salt reduction resulted in a 1% decrease in blood pressure in people with normal blood pressure, and a 3.5% decrease in blood pressure among those with hypertension. Salt reduction also resulted in a 2.5% increase in cholesterol, a 7% increase in triglyceride and a significant increase plasma renin, plasma aldosterone, plasma adrenaline and plasma noradrenaline."
"Critics of widespread salt-reduction recommendations point out that evidence in support of restricted salt intake to prevent cardiovascular morbidity and mortality has come, in large part, from the relationship of salt intake to blood pressure. That was one conclusion from another recent systematic review that found that the cardiovascular benefits of salt restriction remain unproven on the basis of currently available evidence."