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

by Michael F. Jacobson, Frank Hu (Reading), Walter Willett (Reading)

How food industry lobbyists and a small group of scientists have successfully fought government efforts to reduce dangerous levels of sodium in our 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 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. Why hasn't salt received the sort of public attention and regulatory action that sugar and fat have? 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, a few scientists argue the opposite—that American 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 forty years, explains what science actually says about salt intake and rebuts “sodium skeptics.” He discusses what other countries are doing to cut dietary salt, and describes some recent victories in the United States. He advises readers how to reduce salt—warning them against “salt bombs” (Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup, for example, packs an entire day's worth of sodium in one can)—and calls on them to suit up for the next battle in the salt wars.

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Science

232 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2020

About the author

Michael F. Jacobson is an American scientist, nutritionist and co-founder of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Reviews

[Irene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this along with The Salt Fix by DiNicolantonio so that I could get both sides of the story at once. However, the few studies referenced in this book have numerous problems. Even the author admits that much of the evidence is inconclusive. For example, lower blood pressure MIGHT be due to lower sodium levels, but it might just as easily be due to significant weight loss by a study's participants. Instead of trying to design better studies, which the author says would be too expensive, he simply says that if the American Heart Association and others insist that salt is harmful, then it must be harmful, and everyone should drastically reduce the sodium in their (our) diets. The Salt Fix by DiNocolantonio is much more thorough, offers many more studies (both for and against salt, although admittedly most are pro-salt), and outlines some of the dangers of lowering sodium intake for certain populations (such as pregnant women). Lower sodium levels are sometimes (often?) accompanied by an increased heart rate, which negates any benefit of the slightly lower blood pressure obtained. All in all, I was disappointed in this book. It did not convice me that salt is the enemy of good health.

[Susan Wisecup-Agbedzinu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book, as a whole. It’s very well researched, and the fact that the author has been one of the major proponents of limiting salt in the American diet says much about his credentials. One aspect of this battle is how absolutely firmly entrenched and adamant the food industry is against any type of compromise or willingness to, as a group, reduce the amount of sodium in their products. Included is the vast majority of restaurant owners in refusing to do so, as well. A very few food product manufacturers have, on their own, worked to somewhat limit the amount of health-damaging sodium in their food products and I applaud them.
The only negative in the book, to me, was the insistence by the author to accuse all Republicans, as well as Republican legislators as a whole, of refusing to allow any helpful legislation to be passed. It’s as if he feels that every non-Democrat is too stupid to realize that a salt-laden diet is harmful.
Other than that it’s an excellent book and I highly recommend reading it to learn of the fight to limit and restrict sodium in our food supply. I especially appreciate those who don’t want our children to grow up physically damaged by the foods they eat, at home, at school and in restaurants.

[Mikey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael F. Jacobson, foremost nutrition advocate and founder of Center for Science in the Public Interest, pens a memoir to his multi-decade campaign to improve America's health.

In what one hopes will be the first of many volumes:
this book details the enduring Food Politics when scientists, government organizations and food lobbyists battle out efforts to reduce America's consumption of salt in processed and prepared foods.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is primarily written to answer those in the salt industry and medical community who refuse to see sodium as detrimental to our health. It's a bit too academic in nature, so not necessarily something for everyone, but it's a good book.

[D Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wrote this review
https://forward.com/culture/460045/wh...

[Jo Beck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read with quality and engaging content. The what to do section was a bit lacking but on the policy advocacy front.

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to an entire audiobook only to learn that we should eat less salt, which I already knew. Lucky I could listen at 2.5 speed.

[Vickie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very repetitive, but good information

[Barry Barrybarry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good information on the fight against excess salt in our foods.