On April 20, 2010, the Institute of Medicine issued a landmark report calling on the Food and Drug Administration to limit the amounts of sodium (from salt and other ingredients) in different food categories. The number shown here is an estimate of the number of deaths that could have been averted since that date in 2010 if Americans were consuming half as much sodium as the current 4,000 mg per day. 100,000 deaths each year could have been prevented if the FDA acted upon the IOM's recommendations.