One role played by the Salt Institute is to try to correct the misstatements, inaccuracies and outright distortions put forward by some advocates of universal salt reduction. Debate can be a healthy way to get facts on the table, identify policy options and reach reasonable policies, but our opponents frequently try to "change the subject" by attributing all defense of salt to self-interested parties or engaging in scare tactics like overstating the amount of salt in our diets or extrapolating data to claim fantastic numbers of needless deaths that they attribute to this "high" salt intake.
An example of one exchange is Bob Messenger's The Morning Cup which today leads with an "action" photo of yours truly and the headline: "Salt Institute boss miffed; his industry's under fire!" He notes my objection to items posted on his site and adds:
I sympathize with Mr. Hanneman - he's in a nasty war trying to defend against the onslaught of anti-salt hysteria emanating from some government sources, the media and the wellness community, three very powerful adversaries. But the man is just doing his job, and what a tough, grinding job it must be these days. The truth is, and I've said this before, what's going on out there has little to do with facts as much as it has to do with an agenda-filled, fear-mongering, hysteria-driven consensus among activist-minded wellness nannies who've tagged salt with the curse of their criticisms. I have said to the industry, "Heads-up! Salt's under the gun and consumers are being bludgeoned with information, a lot of it misleading." But my bottom line, I guess, is I would tend to believe Mr. Hanneman's numbers over those of his industry's opponents.
And he concludes:
So, please ... count me among those who do not look at salt as the enemy, but as another wonderful ingredient that, like all ingredients, needs to be consumed in moderation. That said, Mr. Hanneman and the Salt Institute need to toughen up even more because the onslaught is hardly over. All one has to do is look at the UK to see what happens when idiot zealots get behind the wheel!
That's the word from the trenches in the salt wars.
