"The Salt Conspiracy"
Rather than join in a constructive debate on the policy options based on scientific evidence, anti-salt activists continue to finger-point at personalities and "special interests" to divert public attention to the fact that scientific studies do not identify an improved health outcome from reducing dietary salt.
The latest blast, typified in today's Washington Post , attributes the controversy to economic interests including "Big Salt" -- the Salt Institute. I've submitted this response to the Post:
"Big salt"? As president of the Salt Institute: thanks for the compliment. A few years ago, Gene Weingarten's Below the Beltway profiled the Salt Institute as a prime example of the notion that even the smallest and most insignificant interests have a not-for-profit organization (see http://www.saltinstitute.org/pubstat/beltway.html) . But that's another matter.
The article says "Too much salt is bad for you, right?" By definition, "too much" is, well "too much" ergo "bad."
But who's to say that the amount of salt Americans eat (and we're very average around the world) is "too much"?
I guess it depends on who you ask. The Cochrane Collaboration, inventors of "evidence-based medicine" feel there is no evidence supporting a population intervention. So, too, does the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, guardians at the HHS of the "evidence-based" approach to public health nutrition policy.
This is an enduring debate among scientists. While we don't fund research due to our modest means, we've seen the debate transform itself from the old debate: will lowering salt help a significant number of people reduce their blood pressure? to a new, better line of inquiry: will reducing dietary salt lower the risk of heart attacks and improve health outcomes?
Surprise. When the question is framed in terms of health outcomes, the answer is clear: none of the studies show a population benefit by reducing dietary salt. Some show increased risk. The president of the International Society of Hypertension published an article earlier this year, using a massive HHS database, and found 37% greater mortality among those following the Dietary Guidelines' recommedation.
We've reviewed the controversy on our website, http://www.saltinstitute.org/28.html and comment regularly on our blogs http://www.saltinstitute.org/rss/health-other/ and http://www.saltinstitute.org/rss/saltsensibility/ . We are a very transparent organization and you can also find all our public statements on this issue online at http://www.saltinstitute.org/advocate.html .
Dick HannemanPresidentSalt Institute
This may be David and Goliath, but we're not Philistines, in Webster's terms: "disdainful of intellectual values."
