FDA recommending 1⁄3 reduction in salt in processed foods

[Mike Nolan]

The FDA is issuing voluntary guidelines for major food manufacturers and restaurants that would reduce salt levels by a third.

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[Italiancook]

I applaud this. The article I read said that they're recommending gradual reductions. I think this will make it more palatable to the salt-lovin' consumers, among whom I count family members.

I hope Swanson's chicken broth receives a makeover. I think their lower sodium product has too much salt. I make my own broth and freeze it. Yet, there are times when I'd really love to reach for Swanson's.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by Italiancook.

[Mike Nolan]

I've been making and freezing my own chicken and beef stock for years, and use little or no salt when making it. (None when making beef stock, I do use a little in chicken stock, I think it helps extract flavor from the bones.)

I also have turkey stock, duck stock and goose stock in the freezer, and also rendered goose fat. I've never made my own vegetable stock, but I don't use it when cooking anyway.

I think most canned/boxed stocks taste awful, why would I want a soup or sauce made with them?

There's a Zoup restaurant in a nearby mall, they sell beef, vegetable and chicken stock in jars, and advertise that it tastes good enough to drink. But as far as I can tell, all 3 have garlic in them. 🙁

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by Mike Nolan.

[BakerAunt]

I have eaten at more than one restaurant (usually when we have a job candidate in town) where the food was too salty. I also make my own chicken and turkey stock, and I do not add salt. I've not made beef stock. I cheat on that with the Penzey's concentrated beef stock, which is lower in salt than most others. As I only use it for stew and the occasional roast, that seems reasonable to me.

I have overdone the less salt. Recently, I have started sprinkling a little (a couple of grinds of the salt mill) on chicken and salmon when I roast it, and the salt brings out the flavor. I also like a bit on buttered sweet corn on the cob.

[Mike Nolan]

The FDA is spot on--far too many restaurants overdo the salt. If you've ever watched cooking shows, many celebrity chefs add salt--LOTS OF SALT--at every step, because that's what they've been taught in cooking school.

I have a light hand with the salt in my own cooking. Unlike some restaurant chefs, who have gone so far as to remove salt and pepper shakers from the tables in their restaurants, I am not at all offended if someone salts my food at the table.

Soups are notoriously over-salted in restaurants. I never order French Onion soup in a restaurant anymore, in part because I prefer it made with chicken broth rather than beef broth (which is also truer to the origin of this peasant dish), and because it's almost always way too salty.

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