Trials and tribulations
Salt has certainly captured a great deal of news in the past 10 days. Since the release of the IOM report on "Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake ," we have been deluged with countless media reports and numerous requests for interviews. With so much going on, you can't help but wonder how consumers are reacting to all the hype.
It is interesting to examine the reader comments that often follow a news article. The identities of most of the authors who comment are not readily apparent, so it is understandable if their remarks are a bit spirited and sometimes off the point. Many use the occasion to vent their anger and frustration over issues that may not be directly related to salt and health.
As a result, it is sometimes hard to get a sense of how consumers are really reacting to the coordinated attack on salt by our medical institutions and the initiatives under way by many large food companies to reduce the salt content of the products. In other words, how can we tell what's happening where the rubber meets the road?
Two new reports that came out yesterday may give us some insight.
The first was a report in the Food Navigator entitled, "Low-sodium products declined in popularity, says NPD . The NPD Group is a leading provider of reliable and comprehensive consumer and retail information for a wide range of industries. Harry Balzer is vice president of The NPD Group and chief industry analyst specializing on food and diet trends. Balzer and The NPD Group have been tracking the eating and drinking patterns of Americans for nearly 30 years.
The article describes the NPD research, which examined US consumer behavior over the past 30 years and found that, although consumers increasingly say they are concerned about the amount of sodium in their diets, the number of people actually buying products that claim to have low or no sodium has steadily declined. Quoting from the article, “Chief industry analyst at the NPD Group Harry Balzer said: “In my 30 years of observing Americans eating behaviors, there is often a gap between what consumers say and what they do. It’s easier to aspire to a positive behavior than to actually do it."”
The second report was the latest Rasmussen Report just released. The headline read “55% Oppose Government Limits On How Much Salt Americans Consume ." The data from a national telephone survey shows that just 33% of Americans think the government should set limits on how much salt Americans can eat. Most adults (55%) disagree and don't think it's any of the FDA's business. Another 12% are not sure.
It's clear that the huge, coordinated effort by salt reduction advocates around the world have had a very limited impact on the public thus far. That is not to say that the situation will not change, however, we are now getting to a point where some basic truths will start to emerge. In fact, the issuance of the IOM report "Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake " has transparently revealed what I have been saying for years now – that the IOM fully intends to put the population of the United States into the largest clinical trial ever carried out in history without the knowledge or consent of the people. As stated in their report, a central element of their strategy will be to gradually lower salt intake in stages and then check if any particular stage has demonstrated unintended negative consequences for the population. That is what a clinical trial does! And with very few exceptions the media, which have made the transition from watchdogs to lapdogs, have gone along with it, hook, line and sinker.
