American Meat Institute Director of Scientific Affairs Betsy Booren told MeatInternational.com that the IOM report on salt issued last week ignores the complexity of the issue.
According to Booren, manufacturers must carefully weigh palatability issues, safety concerns and long-established taste preferences. “It’s important to produce reduced sodium products that are safe and acceptable,” she noted. “If consumers don’t like the taste and texture, the salt shaker is just a reach away. And, of course, we must use extreme caution in reducing any ingredient that could potentially impact the safety of our products.”
Booren also expressed strong concern about the IOM recommendation to change salt’s longstanding GRAS status, which allows an ingredient to be used in foods without seeking special permission. “Suggesting that salt should no longer have GRAS status sends conflicting information because salt helps make food safe. It also is essential to health, though it must be eaten in moderation,” she said. Booren also noted that if GRAS status were removed, the FDA would need to embark upon a lengthy and painstaking regulatory process to set individual sodium levels for thousands of food products – a process that could take years and consume valuable resources when voluntary efforts are already under way.