The Administration’s Evil War On Bacon

The administration wants to reduce the sodium content of foods, that means your favorites, like bacon, may be destined for history (via Ben Domenech of New Ledger):

The Washington Post reports that the Food and Drug Administration plans an unprecedented effort to reduce gradually Americans’ salt consumption.

In April, the Institute of Medicine advised the FDA to lower the recommended daily intake of sodium for individuals from 2,300 mg to 1,500 mg. It also recommended setting maximum legal limits on salt in all packaged and restaurant foods.

The plan is “to slowly ratchet down the sodium level, so people won’t notice the change,” said Christina DeWitt, a food scientist on the IOM advisory panel.

Still, critics of the proposal argue that, in isolation, limiting salt in the diet may not improve public health. Jacob Sullum, senior editor at Reason magazine, says there’s little evidence linking low-salt diets to a reduced incidence of high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease.

Sullum cites a February 2009 New York Times op-ed column by Michael Alderman, a professor of epidemiology at the Albert Einstein College of medicine, which stated:

“[O]ver the past generation, while sodium intake in the United States appears to be increasing, deaths from heart attacks and strokes have declined by half,” Alderman wrote. “It is also possible that a change in this single dietary element might disturb unknown nutritional interactions and thus generate other as yet unrecognized effects, good or bad.”

Just how much salt the FDA might cut has not yet been determined, but DeWitt said allowances might be made for inherently salty foods like brine cheeses, pickles, olives, and country ham.

Country ham

“There are products where salt is part of their makeup, it’s part of their character,” DeWitt said. “It was not the intent of the committee to get rid of these products altogether.”

Candace Cansler, director of the National Country Ham Association, said U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations require country hams to have at least 4 percent salt content. Any less and the meat is subject to microbial contamination.

Moe Lane responds:

Here is a hint for Christina Dewitt of the Institute of Medicine and the University of Oklahoma: when somebody informs you that there needs to be a minimum level of a particular food additive present to prevent people from becoming infected, saying that the rule ‘probably’ won’t be changed is not very… smart, really. It suggests a certain sort of close-minded, theocratic fanaticism that is no less worrisome for not being violent. After all, the problem here is not that Christina Dewitt wants to eat ham that is less sodium-enriched; she wants me to eat ham like that, too — whether I want to, or not. And her definition of acceptable risk is broader than mine. And her sect has some say in setting FDA standards, apparently.

You know what this all tells me? The candidate who comes out for salty bacon, guns, beer, plain talking and a strong America is going to win.

Going after bacon is a losing political proposition. These people are insane. Do they really want to create a bacon black market? Because I’m here to tell you, there will be one. And then, people will start curing their own meat.

These sorts of rules and regulations feel so Orwellian. And where are the liberals on this? I thought they were for all sorts of freedom. Basically freedom means being able to screw anything that moves. Otherwise, live life how they want you to live.

Stupid liberals.

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