March 15, 2010
The Assault on Salt
Salt shaker, courtesy of Flickr user Leonid_Mamchenkov
If a ban proposed by Brooklyn assemblyman Felix Ortiz passes, New York chefs will be banned from using salt in food preparation in all restaurants. The bill states: “No owner or operator of a restaurant in this state shall use salt in any form in the preparation of any food for consumption by customers of such restaurant, including food prepared to be consumed on the premises of such restaurant or off of such premises.” Ortiz suggests a $1,000 fine for each violation
The New York Daily News led off their coverage with this: “If State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz has his way, the only salt added to your meal will come from the chef’s tears.” The New York Times covered the story on their blog. The Baltimore Sun pointed out that not only does salt add flavor, it also affects the chemical reactions that happen during baking (as well as the texture of baked goods). Max Fischer at The Atlantic guessed that Ortiz never actually wanted the ban to pass but rather wanted to get media attention and make other restrictions seem reasonable. He definitely got the media attention.
Ortiz told the Albany Times Union that he was inspired by his father who “used salt excessively for many years, developed high blood pressure and had a heart attack.” Under Ortiz’s salt ban, the public would still be allowed to add salt at the table. I have to admit that if I got a batch of unsalted fries, I would add just as much, if not more, salt than the cooks in the kitchen would have.
Ortiz did issue a clarification later in the week: “My intention for this legislation was to prohibit the use of salt as an additive to meals. If salt is a functional component of the recipe, by all means, it should be included. But, when we have meals prepared by restaurants that pile unnecessary amounts of salt, we have a problem.”
New York is not new to bans. New York City passed a ban on trans fat in 2006. For a column in the Chicago Tribune, Mary Schmich talked to Nicole Pederson, executive chef at C-House in Chicago, who compared the ban to the trans fat ban with one important distinction: “Trans fat is bad in every single way… But salt is not bad in every single way.”
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I couldn’t agree more with Pederson. The clarification helps–but honestly I sometimes wonder whether politicians don’t need more to do…….
So, if I understand, Mr. Ortiz’s father was stupid or ignorant and unwilling to live with moderation. Now everyone in NY should suffer? Is that the way he feels?
Duh?
Next thing you know a politician will seek to ban / tax the air we breathe. Oh wait, that’s right someone already has – it’s called Cap & Trade!
I’m disappointed by the preponderance of unpleasant and negative responses here. I enjoy the information in this blog and have enjoyed the comments posted by my fellow readers.
Until now.
Shame on you for lowering the tone of this excellent blog with rude comments that haven’t even the benefit of being clever.
If you want a ban, take salt off the table. Chefs add salt to compliment the meal, patrons pile on the extra salt that is unwarranted.
Another example of the insane and ignorant government intrusion into our private lives. Because, not all salt is created equal. Regular salt, which is a chemical by product and is heavily chemically treated, is poison. Sea salt which provides necessary trace minerals, is extremely beneficial. As with many other government regulations, the research has not been done, and there is no logic to this legislation.
Ricki – I’m not sure where you get your data but it’s not completely correct. Common salt (such as Morton’s) is not a chemical byproduct. The most popular salt sold in the US is Morton’s and their salt is made via evaporation. On the Caribbean island of Bonaire, seawater is poured into very shallow ponds and allowed to evaporate. Once or twice a year the salt is scraped up, then treated to remove impurities (this is where the chemical processing happens, but as Morton’s is 99.99% NaCl, it’s easy to see that it is not “heavily chemically treated”), sometimes iodine is added, then it’s packaged and sold. You’ll notice that the “impurities” that are removed are the things in seasalt.
Salt *is* a chemical: sodium chloride, NaCl. As with anything, what makes it dangerous is how much one ingests. Since salt is added to so many products without our even realizing, we get a lot more sodium than we realize. (For example, did you know that most cottage cheeses have more sodium per serving than most potato chips? If you do it by calorie than cottage cheese has a lot more sodium than chips.) All salts, be they common, sea, kosher, fancy, are mostly NaCl and therefore contain the thing we’re worried about: sodium.
I’d be interested to read the references you’re drawing on, to see what they have to say.
WilliamB, this is where I have read information on table salt vs. sea salt http://tiny.cc/G7oH7
Ricki – that link isn’t working for me. Would you be so kind as to try again? I’ve had good luck with tinyurl.com, or I can cut and paste the full url. Tks.