Nanny Staters' New Target: Salt

Reason Magazine asks "Can a New York Bureaucrat Put the Whole Country on a Low-Salt Diet?"

The New York City Health Commissioner wants a 50% reduction of sodium in processed foods and in restaurant meals within the next five years. If businesses refuse to comply, he threatens "we'll have to consider other options, like legislation."

The Commissioner, in fact, is calling his plan a "national salt-reduction initiative."

This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who's been following New York City and California banning trans fats from restaurants. I guarantee you, if this trend is allowed to continue, in the coming years the government will increasingly dictate what supposedly free businesses and citizens are allowed to sell, purchase, and consume.

As the Reason article indicates, the Health Commissioner's determination to reduce sodium may be based on weak scientific evidence, as the level of sodium appropriate for individuals to consume varies from person to person.

Regardless of the science, once again we have a situation where decisions are best left to the marketplace if we are to remain a truly free nation.