Salt Wars: The Battle Over the Biggest Killer in the American Diet
An exposé on how food industry lobbyists and a small group of scientists have successfully fought government efforts to reduce dangerous levels of sodium in our food

From the nutrition crusader and co-founder of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) who’s credited with coining the term "junk food"

A high-sodium diet is deadly; studies have linked it to high blood pressure, strokes, and heart attacks. It's been estimated that excess sodium in the American diet causes as many as 100,000 deaths and many billions of dollars in avoidable health-care costs each year. And yet salt is everywhere in our diets—in packaged foods, fast foods, and especially meals at table-service restaurants.
 
In Salt Wars, Michael Jacobson explains how the American food industry and a small group of scientists have successfully fought government efforts to reduce dangerous levels of sodium in our food. Despite an abundance of research going back more than half a century showing that high-sodium diets lead to hypertension and other ills, these scientists argue the opposite—that Americans consume a healthy amount of salt and that eating less would increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
 
This "man bites dog" take on sodium confused consumers and was enthusiastically taken up by food industry lobbyists. Jacobson, a salt wars combatant for more than 40 years, explains what science actually says about salt intake and rebuts the "sodium skeptics." He discusses what other countries are doing to cut dietary salt, and describes some recent victories in the United States.
 
He also advises readers how to reduce salt in their own diets, and calls on them to suit up for the next battle in the salt wars.
1136676368
Salt Wars: The Battle Over the Biggest Killer in the American Diet
An exposé on how food industry lobbyists and a small group of scientists have successfully fought government efforts to reduce dangerous levels of sodium in our food

From the nutrition crusader and co-founder of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) who’s credited with coining the term "junk food"

A high-sodium diet is deadly; studies have linked it to high blood pressure, strokes, and heart attacks. It's been estimated that excess sodium in the American diet causes as many as 100,000 deaths and many billions of dollars in avoidable health-care costs each year. And yet salt is everywhere in our diets—in packaged foods, fast foods, and especially meals at table-service restaurants.
 
In Salt Wars, Michael Jacobson explains how the American food industry and a small group of scientists have successfully fought government efforts to reduce dangerous levels of sodium in our food. Despite an abundance of research going back more than half a century showing that high-sodium diets lead to hypertension and other ills, these scientists argue the opposite—that Americans consume a healthy amount of salt and that eating less would increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
 
This "man bites dog" take on sodium confused consumers and was enthusiastically taken up by food industry lobbyists. Jacobson, a salt wars combatant for more than 40 years, explains what science actually says about salt intake and rebuts the "sodium skeptics." He discusses what other countries are doing to cut dietary salt, and describes some recent victories in the United States.
 
He also advises readers how to reduce salt in their own diets, and calls on them to suit up for the next battle in the salt wars.
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Salt Wars: The Battle Over the Biggest Killer in the American Diet

Salt Wars: The Battle Over the Biggest Killer in the American Diet

Salt Wars: The Battle Over the Biggest Killer in the American Diet

Salt Wars: The Battle Over the Biggest Killer in the American Diet

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Overview

An exposé on how food industry lobbyists and a small group of scientists have successfully fought government efforts to reduce dangerous levels of sodium in our food

From the nutrition crusader and co-founder of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) who’s credited with coining the term "junk food"

A high-sodium diet is deadly; studies have linked it to high blood pressure, strokes, and heart attacks. It's been estimated that excess sodium in the American diet causes as many as 100,000 deaths and many billions of dollars in avoidable health-care costs each year. And yet salt is everywhere in our diets—in packaged foods, fast foods, and especially meals at table-service restaurants.
 
In Salt Wars, Michael Jacobson explains how the American food industry and a small group of scientists have successfully fought government efforts to reduce dangerous levels of sodium in our food. Despite an abundance of research going back more than half a century showing that high-sodium diets lead to hypertension and other ills, these scientists argue the opposite—that Americans consume a healthy amount of salt and that eating less would increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
 
This "man bites dog" take on sodium confused consumers and was enthusiastically taken up by food industry lobbyists. Jacobson, a salt wars combatant for more than 40 years, explains what science actually says about salt intake and rebuts the "sodium skeptics." He discusses what other countries are doing to cut dietary salt, and describes some recent victories in the United States.
 
He also advises readers how to reduce salt in their own diets, and calls on them to suit up for the next battle in the salt wars.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780262360562
Publisher: MIT Press
Publication date: 10/20/2020
Sold by: Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format: eBook
Pages: 248
File size: 1 MB

About the Author

Michael F. Jacobson is Cofounder of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. After serving as Codirector or Executive Director of CSPI for more than four decades, he is now a consultant to the organization. He is the author of Six Arguments for a Greener Diet and other books.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Tom Frieden
Prologue: An Overview of the Salt Battlefield
Chapter 1 Salt: A Primer
Chapter 2 The Case for Eating Less Salt
Chapter 3 The Case Against Eating Less Salt
Chapter 4 What All the Research Means
Chapter 5 The Mouse that Roared: The Salt Institute
Chapter 6 Money and Science
Chapter 7 Less-Salty Diets around the Globe
Chapter 8 Policy Paralysis in the United States
Chapter 9 Progress at Last!
Chapter 10 Action Plan for Better Health
Chapter 11 Protecting Your Own Health
Epilogue: Salt's Lesson on Industry and Public Health
Acknowledgments
Appendix A: List of Information Boxes, Figures, and Tables
Appendix B: Abbreviations
Notes
Index
About the Author

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“In this highly readable book, Michael Jacobson recounts the battles between public health advocates, food industries, and right-wing politicians with exquisite documentation and illustrates how a responsible government can protect its citizens while sharply reducing the costs of health care. This is a must-read for those who care about health.”
—Walter Willett, Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
 
“No one has rattled the processed food industry more than Michael Jacobson, and now with Salt Wars, he’s holding the companies accountable at a time when our health has never mattered more.”
—Michael Moss, author of Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us
 
“Public health authorities advise eating less salt as a way to prevent high blood pressure, but a few scientists disagree. For anyone confused by these arguments, Salt Wars is a must-read. Michael Jacobson has been fighting these wars for decades, and his assessment of the research on both sides—and the policy implications—is exceptionally fair, balanced, and fascinating.”
—Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, New York University; author of Let’s Ask Marion
 
“The evidence for reducing our salt intake is overwhelming, and yet there is still delay and obfuscation—as a result, hundreds of thousands are dying unnecessarily from strokes and heart disease. Jacobson brilliantly exposes the hidden war fought by the salt and food industry.”
—Graham MacGregor, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Queen Mary University of London

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