As you hoist a green beer with the plaintive strains of “Danny Boy" playing in the background, preparing to tuck into that delicious plate of corned beef and cabbage, don’t forget the traditional toast: sláinte! Because looking at the sodium load, your health might need the help.
The Institute of Medicine recommends that everyone should limit their sodium intake to less than 2300 mg per day. Certain population groups, people over 50, African Americans, diabetics and hypertensives among them, should consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day . The CDC notes that the 1,500mg recommendation applies to about half of the U.S. population and the majority of adults. The CDC also says vast majority of the sodium consumed (75%) is from processed and restaurant foods; only a small portion is used in cooking or added at the table. Whether that means that 75% of our diet consists of processed and restaurant foods isn’t mentioned.
Of course, that allows the usual suspects to claim the food industry is trying to kill everyone (or is in cahoots with Big Pharma to put us all on medication). But let’s get back to the St. Paddy’s Day meal.
Theoretically, unless you’re Alton Brown, the corned beef is a processed food, as most will be not be brining the brisket at home. Unfortunately Alton doesn’t mention the sodium content of his corned beef recipe, but my prebrined beef is 950 mg per 100 grams, and I’ve seen numbers on the internet are double that. Let’s then add Ina’s Garten’s Irish soda bread. Her recipe nets out at 312 mg of sodium per slice. In keeping with the theme, I might suggest finishing off the meal with the Chocolate Stout Cupcake recipe from Dave Lieberman It doesn’t seem like the sodium level is astronomical, but oh, the added sugar and the saturated dairy fat from the cream cheese, butter and heavy cream. In fact, I might try my hand at making those this weekend.
Yet no one seems to send out press releases to the Food Network claiming they are trying to undermine our health.
Sure this is a once-a-year meal for most, but the point is: Salty food tastes good to many of us, whether it’s processed or not. But, as I found out while writing an upcoming story on low-sodium baked goods , the food industry is looking at a number of innovative ways to limit the sodium in foods while maintaining the flavor and eating quality.
A recent press release from the National Salt Reduction Initiative (NSRI), a nationwide partnership of city and state health authorities and organizations and voluntary commitments of many of the biggest names in the food.
For example, sodium in Nabisco’s Teddy Grahams Honey flavor graham snacks made by Mondelēz International, the global snacking company formed following the spin-off of Kraft Foods Inc., was reduced 33 percent from 150 mg to 100 mg per serving. The sodium in Kraft Singles American Slices has been reduced by 18 percent per serving. Unilever, the company that makes Ragu pasta sauce, announced that it reduced the sodium in its Ragu Old World Style Traditional Tomato Sauce by 20 percent per serving.
The NSRI’s goal is encourage the voluntary reformulation of foods to cut excess salt in packaged and restaurant foods by 25% over five years , which would reduce the nation’s sodium intake by 20%. So far signs are encouraging.
The Institute of Medicine recommends that everyone should limit their sodium intake to less than 2300 mg per day. Certain population groups, people over 50, African Americans, diabetics and hypertensives among them, should consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day . The CDC notes that the 1,500mg recommendation applies to about half of the U.S. population and the majority of adults. The CDC also says vast majority of the sodium consumed (75%) is from processed and restaurant foods; only a small portion is used in cooking or added at the table. Whether that means that 75% of our diet consists of processed and restaurant foods isn’t mentioned.
Of course, that allows the usual suspects to claim the food industry is trying to kill everyone (or is in cahoots with Big Pharma to put us all on medication). But let’s get back to the St. Paddy’s Day meal.
Theoretically, unless you’re Alton Brown, the corned beef is a processed food, as most will be not be brining the brisket at home. Unfortunately Alton doesn’t mention the sodium content of his corned beef recipe, but my prebrined beef is 950 mg per 100 grams, and I’ve seen numbers on the internet are double that. Let’s then add Ina’s Garten’s Irish soda bread. Her recipe nets out at 312 mg of sodium per slice. In keeping with the theme, I might suggest finishing off the meal with the Chocolate Stout Cupcake recipe from Dave Lieberman It doesn’t seem like the sodium level is astronomical, but oh, the added sugar and the saturated dairy fat from the cream cheese, butter and heavy cream. In fact, I might try my hand at making those this weekend.
Yet no one seems to send out press releases to the Food Network claiming they are trying to undermine our health.
Sure this is a once-a-year meal for most, but the point is: Salty food tastes good to many of us, whether it’s processed or not. But, as I found out while writing an upcoming story on low-sodium baked goods , the food industry is looking at a number of innovative ways to limit the sodium in foods while maintaining the flavor and eating quality.
A recent press release from the National Salt Reduction Initiative (NSRI), a nationwide partnership of city and state health authorities and organizations and voluntary commitments of many of the biggest names in the food.
For example, sodium in Nabisco’s Teddy Grahams Honey flavor graham snacks made by Mondelēz International, the global snacking company formed following the spin-off of Kraft Foods Inc., was reduced 33 percent from 150 mg to 100 mg per serving. The sodium in Kraft Singles American Slices has been reduced by 18 percent per serving. Unilever, the company that makes Ragu pasta sauce, announced that it reduced the sodium in its Ragu Old World Style Traditional Tomato Sauce by 20 percent per serving.
The NSRI’s goal is encourage the voluntary reformulation of foods to cut excess salt in packaged and restaurant foods by 25% over five years , which would reduce the nation’s sodium intake by 20%. So far signs are encouraging.
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