In The News: The Newest Public Enemy

Prepare for the next nutrition war.

Now that the trans fat battle has ended, the focus turns to sodium (which I discussed at length in issue 3 of the Small Bites newsletter).

Unlike trans fats, we need sodium in our diets to keep several crucial body processes running.

Unfortunately, we are getting, on average, twice as much as we need.

I think sodium has largely gone by unnoticed by the general public because it does not contribute extra calories to our diet ("so what if this has three quarters of the recommended sodium limit? At least it won't make me fat!")

Until now. The American Medical Association is pressuring the Food & Drug Administration to get food companies to lower the amount of sodium in many of their products.

The biggest industry at risk? Frozen and non-perishable processed foods. It is not rare to see TV dinners or tomato sauce containing 40% or more of the daily sodium limit.

Some brands -- like Amy's -- are ahead of the curve, recently launching lower-sodium versions of their soups. Expect many others to follow in 2008...