Special Interests are Sabotaging Child Nutrition Programs

James Madison would be proud

FDA urged to reduce Americans’ sodium consumption by setting 10-year reduction targets in food

Fact Sheet: Children and Excess Sodium Intake

How much sodium does the average U.S. child aged 6 to 18 consume? How does excess salt consumption in children affect health? Find out by downloading our useful fact sheet.

Sodium reduction success at Cabell County Schools

At Cabell County Schools, Foodservice Director Travis Austin and Coordinator of Cooks and Cafeteria Support Mary Cook recognize that offering healthy, delicious meals to students takes time, training, and a dedicated workforce.

What's hot in the soup aisle

Rules number one, two, and three of soup? Cut the salt, keep the flavor, and load up on the good stuff (beans, lentils, vegetables). Here’s how to find soups that do all three...and more. Check the photos for some of the best-tasting Best Bites and Honorable Mentions.

Nutrient warnings

In this factsheet, we review relevant, scientific literature on nutrient warnings for a science and policy audience. Overall, evidence from randomized controlled trials and real-world studies suggests that nutrient warnings can increase consumers’ understanding of the healthfulness of foods and have the potential to play a role in reducing purchases of foods and drinks high in calories, sodium, and added sugars. To maximize public health impact, policymakers should design nutrient warnings to be simple, highly visible, and convey information with shapes, icons, and other imagery in addition to text.

How much can healthy eating and exercise lower blood pressure?

Got high blood pressure? Here’s how much your systolic pressure could fall with diet and exercise, according to guidelines from the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology.

Less sodium + more potassium = fewer strokes

Replacing some ordinary salt with potassium salt can cut the risk of stroke. Researchers randomly assigned roughly 21,000 people living in 600 rural Chinese villages to use either ordinary salt (sodium chloride) or a salt that was 75 percent sodium chloride and 25 percent potassium chloride. All the participants had a history of stroke or were 60 or older and had poorly controlled blood pressure (140 or higher with drugs or 160 or higher without drugs).

FDA issues voluntary sodium reduction targets for food industry

Excess sodium in the diet, particularly from packaged and restaurant foods that account for over 70 percent of sodium intake, raises blood pressure, increases risk of cardiovascular disease, and can lead to tens of thousands of early deaths and billions of dollars in health care costs per year.