What editorial writers are saying about salt limits, other steps to improve health

The move, along with other proposals to limit ingredients, are intended to improve the nation's health, reduce risk for disease and combat obesity. Not everyone believes government intervention is the best way to achieve those goals.

A grain of salt

If the sodium content in crackers, cereal, processed meat, soups, condiments and the rest isn't reduced to something like 100 milligrams per serving in the prescribed time frame, the government should adopt stringent limitations. In the meantime, Americans should consider doing their own due diligence, checking food labels for sodium content and avoiding products that inflict heavy doses. Salt Lake Tribune, April 22

Cut the salt

Pressure is building for the Food and Drug Administration to regulate salt in Americans' food, and the FDA should not shy away from mandating limits in packaged as well as restaurant-served food. Given the problem salt has become in the American diet, it seems almost strange that the FDA already hasn't regulated it. Hutchinson (Kansas) News, April 22

Government micromanaging what people eat

Micromanaging everyone's life is not the proper scope of the federal government. There's a simple solution for those who want less salt: Buy foods with less salt. There's no justification for government salt mandates. Washington Times, April 23

Dietary police, beware

As the United States tries to find its way out of the growing trend toward obesity that threatens the nation's health, studies like these sound a warning to be careful about well-intentioned laws that seek to limit one ingredient or another as a way of trimming society's collective waistline and staving off certain diseases. Los Angeles Times, April 12

The battle against fat is tough, but not impossible

Food companies, restaurants and grocery stores know there's a health-conscious market out there, and they're willing to meet the demand. It's just that the demand for the right kinds of foods in the right quantities needs to grow, though not through the application of government force. Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 11

Lo-sweet, lo-fat, lo-salt

Today, the annual per capita consumption of low-calorie "high-intensity sweeteners" -- the pink pouch now competes with, among others, NutraSweet and Equal -- is up to 30 pounds a year. The obesity rate for American adults has soared to more than 30 percent. Correlation doesn't imply causation. But these statistics suggest that at the very least technology hasn't helped much in our war on calories. New York Times, March 30