Restaurant industry drops legal challenge to NYC’s sodium warnings

Consumers in New York City have already been benefiting from warnings on chain restaurant menus when a single dish contains a day’s worth or more of sodium—a teaspoon of salt.  But the National Restaurant Association has now apparently decided that two knock-outs in court were enough and won’t continue its appeals.  Overly salted restaurant meals increase consumers’ risks of heart attacks and strokes.  That’s not good for public health or business.

Now that we know these helpful menu warnings are here to stay, we hope that public health departments around the country will replicate the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s effort to protect the public from excess salt.

While salt is so familiar and seemingly harmless, cutting sodium consumption in half would save as many as 100,000 lives per year.  Reducing sodium in the food supply should be a top priority for industry and the Food and Drug Administration.