Doctors target salt

According to a Chicago Tribune article, the American Medical Association (AMA), meeting this week in Chicago, is expected to call for a 50% sodium reduction in packaged foods and restaurant meals, claiming that such a reduction could help reduce hypertension and therefore cardiovascular disease. The new limits the AMA could endorse would be 2,300 mg/day for adults, and 1,500 mg/day for those with high blood pressure, blacks, middle-age and older adults.

The article states that some AMA members are asking the FDA to revoke salt's GRAS status. Many food companies have already reformulated foods to contain less sodium.