WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is pressuring the food industry to make foods from breads to sliced turkey less salty. It is proposing long-awaited sodium guidelines in an effort to prevent thousands of deaths each year from heart disease and stroke.
The proposed guidelines are voluntary, so the industry won't be required to comply. Many of those companies and restaurants have already worked to reduce sodium. But the idea is to persuade them to take a more consistent approach.
The guidelines set recommended limits for about 150 categories of foods, from cereals to pizzas and sandwiches. Some targets have a two-year goal, while others have a 10-year goal.
Americans eat about 1½ teaspoons of salt daily. That's about a third more than the government recommends for good health.
