Benefits of low salt intake still not proven

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, a leader in promoting public health, has embarked on a campaign to persuade the makers of processed food to reduce its salt content by more than 40 percent over the next 10 years. The goal is commendable: to prevent strokes and heart attacks. And the premise is logical: If people eat less salt, they'll have lower blood pressure, and this could translate into better cardiovascular health.

If such a large reduction were actually to be achieved, however, New Yorkers would consume less sodium than people in most other developed countries do. And there is a possibility that such a big change in one element of their diet might have unintended harmful consequences. Prudence requires that logic and good intentions also be supported by strong evidence that such an action would be safe.

More recently, the federal Dietary Guidelines have been criticized by medical researchers as contributing to an increasing prevalence of obesity in the United States, in part by encouraging people to eat too much low-fat food.