New York first in nation to sprinkle sodium warnings on restaurant menus

This week, New York City enters a new era in nutritional warnings, as restaurants begin marking exceptionally salty menu items with an advisory symbol. On Tuesday, chain eateries in the city began showcasing a miniature saltshaker inside a black hazard triangle next to menu items containing more than the nutritionist-recommended daily sodium limit of 2,300 milligrams, about one teaspoon.

The average American consumes about 3,400 mg of salt per day, and public health advocates are cheering the measures as a smart step to make diners aware of the sodium content on their plates.

The warning affects multiple-outlet venues like Applebee’s, Chipotle, and Panera Bread, which account for about one-third of the city’s restaurant traffic. According to the New York City Health Department, the sodium advisory symbol will appear on about 1 in 10 menu choices. Patrons might think twice before ordering a TGI Friday’s New York cheddar bacon burger, for example, which packs in 4,280 mg of sodium. Green salads aren’t always free of the salt scourge, with Chili’s boneless Buffalo chicken salad including 3,460 mg.

“We’re not the food police, and we’re not telling (customers) what to do,” said Apple Metro CEO Zane Tankel. “But I think it’s important that we give them the opportunity to make the right decisions, or wrong decisions, if that’s what they so choose.”

Excessive salt intake is thought to spike blood pressure and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and stroke. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both New York City and the nation. The American Heart Association recently changed its daily sodium recommendation from the one-teaspoon limit, whittling it down to 1,500 mg for hypertensive individuals, African-Americans, and anyone past middle age. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 70 percent of the nation falls into these categories.

The new sodium warning is the first of its kind in the country, and the latest in a series of nutritional mandates by policy-makers in the nation’s biggest city. In recent years, New York has trail-blazed trends like banning trans-fats from restaurant meals and compelling fast food chains to post calorie counts on menus.

Critics say the salt advisory is burdensome on restaurants, already required to provide nutritional information if diners ask for it.

“This proposal would only add to the mountain of red tape these establishments have to deal with,” said Melissa Fleischut, president and CEO of the NYS Restaurant Association. “The composition of menus may soon have more warning labels than food products.”

But others believe the boost in nutritional information might encourage New Yorkers to make holistically wiser health choices.

“Things are not going to work out great if all you do is just not eat salt,” said Dr. Howard Weintraub, co-director of NYU Langone Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. “But maybe, just maybe, they’ll start to watch how much they eat, maybe they will get off the subway a stop earlier and walk, instead of taking the elevator, they will walk two flights.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.