NYC Launches Campaign to Cut Salt

New York City will today launch a national effort to cut the amount of salt in packaged and restaurant foods by 25% over five years. The plan asks food companies to make incremental reductions on a voluntary basis to help fight high blood pressure. But unlike Mayor Michael Bloomberg's obesity and smoking bans, the sodium battle won't be on the books. In lieu of legislation, companies that make cuts will be rewarded with good press—or so the theory goes.

So far, only a few firms seem ready to test that theory. Grocery giant A&P called the goals "realistic," and Subway deemed them "achievable." Others weren't so keen. Campbell Soup Company, for instance, plans to cut salt on its own terms. "There's no one size fits all," a rep tells the New York Times. Not all doctors are sold, either. One likened the move to an uncontrolled experiment on the public's health. “I’m always worried about unintended consequences,” he says. (More Salt stories.)