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FDA prepping long-awaited plan to reduce salt

FILE - This Feb. 7, 2012 file photo shows a shopper walking down the canned soup aisle at a grocery store in Cincinnati. Food companies and restaurants could soon face government pressure to make their foods less salty _ a long-awaited federal effort to try and prevent thousands of deaths each year from heart disease and stroke. (AP Photo/Al Behrman, File)
FILE - This Feb. 7, 2012 file photo shows a shopper walking down the canned soup aisle at a grocery store in Cincinnati. Food companies and restaurants could soon face government pressure to make their foods less salty _ a long-awaited federal effort to try and prevent thousands of deaths each year from heart disease and stroke. (AP Photo/Al Behrman, File) FILE - This Feb. 7, 2012 file photo shows a shopper walking down the canned soup aisle at a grocery store in Cincinnati. Food companies and restaurants could soon face government pressure to make their foods less salty _ a long-awaited federal effort to try and prevent thousands of deaths each year from heart disease and stroke. (AP Photo/Al Behrman, File)

By Associated Press 5 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – Food companies and restaurants could soon face government pressure to make their foods less salty – a long-awaited federal effort to try to prevent thousands of deaths each year from heart disease and stroke.

The Food and Drug Administration is preparing voluntary guidelines asking the food industry to lower sodium levels, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg told The Associated Press. Hamburg said in a recent interview that the sodium is “of huge interest and concern” to the agency.

“We believe we can make a big impact working with the industry to bring sodium levels down, because the current level of consumption really is higher than it should be for health,” Hamburg said.

It’s still unclear when FDA will release the guidelines, despite its 2013 goal to have them completed this year.

Hamburg said she hoped the agency would be able to publicly discuss the issue “relatively soon.” On Tuesday, FDA spokeswoman Erica Jefferson said there is no set timeline for their release.