Fast food New York fights against salty food

In the metropolis of New York, restaurant visitors will be able to recognize in the future exactly which dishes hide a lot of salt. Because since December 1, some of the big chains are required to mark dishes with a salt content of more than 2.3 milligrams. This makes the salt after trans fats and calories the third area to be more controlled to promote a healthy diet of the New York population.
Marked by salt shaker on the menu
Since the first of December, the East Coast metropolis of New York has been battling for heavily salted foods. As the British newspaper "The Guardian" reports, from now on all restaurant chains in the city, which operate more than 15 branches in the USA, are obliged to mark strongly salted foods with a black and white salt shaker on the menu , The regulation refers to dishes that contain more than about one teaspoon (about 2.3 mg) of the essential mineral - because this is the currently recommended daily maximum for an adult.

Obesity, Diabtes, early death: New York fights against too much salt and fat. Image: Tijana - fotolia

Those who take up more salt, on the other hand, risk damaging their health, such as Hypertension and cardiovascular diseases such as a heart attack or stroke. In addition, Berlin researchers recently showed that excessive salt intake can damage the immune system.

Symbols are intended to facilitate menu selection
"That's something we can control. And we really feel that these symbols can help consumers make decisions about the amount of salt in their courtroom more easily, "said Sonia Angell of the local health department to the Guardian. According to Angell, restaurants that do not comply with the new rules would face a fine of $ 200 (€ 189) from 1 March next year. However, since the labeling requirement applies only to large chains, only a few New York restaurants are affected.

"We are not the food police. We can not tell them what to do, "said Zane Tankel of the Applebee's chain of restaurants, who had added the salt-spreader symbols to their menus at the beginning of November. "But I think it's important that we give them the opportunity to make the right decisions or make the wrong decisions about what they choose," continues Tankel.

Trans fats have been banned since 2006
However, salt labeling is not the first rule that is being set up in New York to protect the health of the population. Already in 2006, on the initiative of the former mayor Michael Bloomberg so-called "trans fat" in restaurant and café chains were banned, which are preserved, inter alia, in fast food. The industrially modified fats are cheap and increase the shelf life of food - but are very harmful to our bodies. In contrast to other dietary fats, they increase the "bad" LDL cholesterol level and simultaneously lower the "good" HDL cholesterol level. As a result, among other things, the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as a heart attack or stroke increases.

In 2008, New York also became the first city in the US to announce the calorie count of the courts in chain restaurants - a regulation that is to apply from December 2016, following a decision by the US Department of Health across the country. In 2013, however, the attempt by former mayor Bloomberg to stop selling "XXL soft drinks" was less successful. (No)