Two major U.S. cities are taking action to help people eat healthier food. New York city officials are poised to require a warning label on high-sodium menu items at chain restaurants, while San Francisco moved to ban ads for ads for sugary sodas on public property. 
 
 Cities are getting bolder about such measures, aimed at helping people figure out how to avoid the unhealthiest foods. 
 
 New York's Health Department will propose Wednesday that all chain restaurants add a symbol resembling a salt shaker on menus next to food products that contain more than the recommended daily limit of 2,300 milligrams of sodium, equal to about 1 teaspoon of salt, the Associated Press reported. 
 
 Most US Kids Get Far Too Much Salt, Feds Say 
 
 Sodium can raise blood pressure, which can lead to heart attack and stroke. Studies have found that the vast majority of dietary salt comes from processed and restaurant foods. Average sodium consumption is about 3,400 milligrams of sodium each day. Only about one in 10 Americans meets the 1 teaspoon guideline. 
 
 "This doesn't change the food. It enables people to identify single items that have a level of salt that is extremely high so that they can modify their menu selections accordingly,” said Dr. Mary Travis Bassett, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. 
 
 FDA Prepping Salt Limits 
 
 Michael Jacobson, executive director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based advocacy group, called it "an extremely important proposal." 
 
 New York's Trans-Fat ban is Effective, Study Finds 
 
 Marion Nestle, a food policy expert at New York University, said the proposal might encourage restaurants to help figure out ways to cut down on salt. "The big problem here is nobody wants to go first. Food companies don't want to start reducing their salt unless everybody else does," Nestle said. "That's why we need regulation in my view." 
 
 Also Tuesday, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed legislation to require health warnings on ads for sugar-sweetened drinks and banning ads on publicly owned property. The measure also forbids the use of city funds to buy sodas. 
 
 "These health warnings will help provide people information they need to make informed decisions about what beverages they consume," city supervisor Scott Wiener said in a statement. 
 
 "Requiring health warnings on soda ads also makes clear that these drinks aren't harmless - indeed, quite the opposite - and that the puppies, unicorns, and rainbows depicted in soda ads aren't reality." ||||| National Salt Reduction Initiative 
 
 Sodium & Health 
 
 Sodium Warning Labels 
 
 Diets high in salt intake increase blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, and stroke. Learn more about the link between sodium and health from these Frequently Asked Questions (PDF). Visit the Choose Less Sodium page for tips on reducing your own salt intake.Read the letter (PDF) urging federal action on sodium to the United States Food and Drug Administration from 33 state and local health departments and organizations. 
 
 Health Commissioner Bassett submitted an affidavit (PDF) in support of the Sodium Warning Rule, in response to the National Restaurant Association’s (NRA’s) effort to halt the implementation. Read the press release. 
 
 New York is the first city in the nation to require chain restaurants to post warning labels next to menu items that contain high levels of sodium. The proposal was passed unanimously on September 9, 2015 by the New York City Board of Health, and requires restaurants with 15 or more locations nationwide to post the warning labels starting December 1, 2015. Chain restaurants including Applebee’s, Subway, TGI Friday’s, and the Regal Entertainment Group movie theaters have already begun to implement the sodium warning rule, well before fines begin on March 1, 2016. 
 
 Read the compliance guide (PDF) Other languages: [Español] [中文] [العربية] [Русский] [Kreyòl ayisyen] [λληνες] [বাংলা] [한국어한국어] [اردو] about the new sodium warning rules for chain restaurants. 
 
 High Sodium Warning Label: Why It Matters (PDF) Other languages: [বাংলা] [中文] [Kreyòl ayisyen] [한국어] [Русский] [Español] 
 
 Sodium Warning Label: Presentation to the Board of Health (PDF) 
 
 Health Code Rule about Sodium Warning Labels (PDF) 
 
 Download sodium warning icon: JPEG or TIF 
 
 For questions about the sodium warning label icon, contact salt@health.nyc.gov 
 
 National Salt Reduction Initiative 
 
 
 
 The NYC Health Department is coordinating an unprecedented public-private partnership to help prevent heart disease and strokes by reducing the amount of salt in restaurant foods. The National Salt Reduction Initiative (NSRI), a partnership of more than 95 state and local health authorities and national health organizations , sets voluntary targets for salt levels in 62 categories of packaged food and 25 categories of restaurant food to guide food company salt reductions in 2012 and 2014. Some popular products already meet these targets - a clear indication that they are achievable. 
 
 When a company signs onto the initiative, it pledges that its overall sales in a given food category - canned soup, for example - will meet the relevant target for salt content, even if some individual products don't. Unlike past salt reduction efforts in the United States, the NSRI includes mechanisms to monitor sodium in the food supply to track companies' progress toward specific targets. The NYC Health Department measured sodium intake of New Yorkers through a 24-hour urinary sodium analysis as part of the Heart Follow-Up Study (HFUS). For more information about HFUS: 
 
 Learn more about the NSRI's Goals and Summary (PDF) or check out some Frequently Asked Questions (PDF). 
 
 Company Commitments to NSRI Targets 
 
 The NSRI applauds the companies that have agreed to pursue NSRI targets, and we encourage all manufacturers, restaurants, supermarkets and other food companies to follow their example. 
 
 Au Bon Pain 
 
 Bertucci's Italian Restaurant 
 
 Black Bear European Style Deli 
 
 Boar's Head Provisions Co. 
 
 Butterball 
 
 Campbell Soup Company 
 
 Delhaize America 
 
 Dietz & Watson 
 
 FreshDirect 
 
 Furmano's 
 
 Goya Foods 
 
 Hain Celestial 
 
 Heinz 
 
 Ken's Foods 
 
 Kraft Foods 
 
 LiDestri Foods / Francesco Rinaldi 
 
 Mars Food US 
 
 McCain Foods 
 
 Premio 
 
 Red Gold, Inc. 
 
 Snyder's-Lance, Inc. 
 
 Starbucks Coffee Company 
 
 Subway® 
 
 Target Corporation 
 
 Unilever 
 
 Uno Chicago Grill 
 
 White Rose 
 
 View the full list of commitments and achievements (PDF) by NSRI committed companies. If you would like to learn more about how to participate in the NSRI, please email salt@health.nyc.gov. 
 
 News & Announcements ||||| NEW YORK (AP) — New York could become the first U.S. city. to require warning labels on high-salt dishes at chain restaurants, taking campaigns to cut down on salt into new territory, health officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday. 
 
 A Bistro French Onion Soup Bread Bowl is seen at a Panera bread restaurant, Tuesday, June 9, 2015, in New York. New York City could become the first city in the U.S. to require a warning label on high-sodium... (Associated Press) 
 
 The city's Department of Health will propose Wednesday that all chain restaurants add a salt-shaker-like symbol on menus next to products that contain more than the recommended daily limit of 2,300 milligrams of sodium, about 1 teaspoon of salt. 
 
 Public health advocates hailed the proposal as a pioneering step to tackle a major problem. Salt producers called it off-base, and some restaurateurs said it would needlessly mire already burdened eateries in more bureaucracy. But city Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Travis Bassett said it simply would give customers important information. 
 
 There's a wide variety of food items that would require the warning label under the proposed guidelines. At Panera Bread, for example, the Italian combo sandwich — which includes seared steak, smoked turkey, ham, salami and onions — has 2,830 mg of sodium, while the sesame jack chicken strips at TGI Friday's contain 2,700 mg of sodium. 
 
 "This doesn't change the food," Bassett said. "It enables people to identify single items that have a level of salt that is extremely high." 
 
 If the city Board of Health votes Wednesday to consider the proposal, a final vote could come as soon as September and the warnings by December. 
 
 Overconsumption of sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure, which can lead to heart attack and stroke. The average American consumes about 3,400 milligrams of sodium each day; only about one in 10 Americans meets the 1 teaspoon guideline. 
 
 "High sodium levels are probably the biggest health problem related to our food supply," said Michael Jacobson, executive director for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based advocacy group. 
 
 While he hailed New York's proposal as "showing true leadership," he also called it a conservative approach, given that items would get special labels only if they have a full day's worth of sodium. A meal with even half that amount would still have too much salt, he said. 
 
 The head of the Salt Institute, a trade association for salt producers, called the proposal "misguided" and based on "faulty, incorrect government targets" discredited by recent research. 
 
 "They're too low ... and, if followed, could actually harm people," said the group's president, Lori Roman. 
 
 Last year, a large international study questioned the conventional wisdom that most people should cut back on salt, suggesting that the amount most folks consume is OK for heart health. The study followed 100,000 people in 17 countries and found that very high levels of salt were a problem, especially for people with high blood pressure, but too little salt also can do harm. 
 
 Other scientists fault the study and say most people still consume way too much salt. 
 
 Federal law already requires restaurants to provide sodium content information on request, and the proposed menu labels will wrap restaurants in the nation's biggest city in more red tape, said Melissa Fleischut, president of the New York State Restaurant Association. 
 
 "The composition of menus may soon have more warning labels than food products," she said. 
 
 But Panera Bread expressed support for the city's plan. Panera advocates providing nutritional information with menus, and the New York proposal is "aligned with that same goal," CEO Ron Shaich said in a statement. He said he hoped such initiatives would prompt national and industrywide labeling requirements. 
 
 "These are necessary to create real change," he said. 
 
 Some other chains, including Burger King and Wendy's, declined to comment. 
 
 Studies have found that the vast majority of dietary salt comes from processed and restaurant foods. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been pressing the food industry to reduce sodium content voluntarily and is working on new sodium guidelines. 
 
 Under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, New York led development of salt-reduction targets for various table staples and got companies to start committing to them voluntarily, starting in 2010. 
 
 Many companies said they were able to shrink the salt without customers complaining, but that wasn't always the case. Two years after the Campbell Soup Co. announced in 2009 that it was lowering salt in half its soups, it brought back some higher-sodium soups, citing concern about the taste. 
 
 New York City made a series of groundbreaking healthy-eating moves during Bloomberg's tenure: banning trans fats from restaurant meals, forcing chain eateries to post calorie counts on menus and trying, unsuccessfully, to limit the size of some sugary drinks. While city officials and health experts applauded the initiatives, some critics saw them as nannyish. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press Chief Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione in Milwaukee, AP Food Industry Writer Candice Choi in New York, AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner in Chicago, Mike Stobbe in New York and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. ||||| Most Americans Should Consume Less Sodium 
 
 Click on the infographic to view it and other infographics related to children and reducing sodium in their diet. 
 
 Most of the sodium we consume is in the form of salt, and the vast majority of sodium we consume is in processed and restaurant foods. Your body needs a small amount of sodium to work properly, but too much sodium is bad for your health. Excess sodium can increase your blood pressure and your risk for a heart disease and stroke. Together, heart disease and stroke kill more Americans each year than any other cause.1 
 
 Reducing Sodium in Children’s Diets 
 
 Nearly 9 in 10 US children eat more sodium than recommended, and about 1 in 9 children has raised blood pressure, which is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Lowering sodium in children’s diets today can help prevent heart disease tomorrow. Small changes make a big impact on your child’s daily sodium intake. ||||| New York City has banned trans fats at restaurants, posted calorie counts on menus and tried, unsuccessfully, to limit the size of sodas. 
 
 Now the city is taking aim at a new edible adversary: sodium. 
 
 Under a plan to be presented by the de Blasio administration on Wednesday, many chain restaurants would have to post a warning label on the menu beside any dish that has more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium, the daily limit recommended by many nutritionists. 
 
 The amount is akin to a teaspoon of salt, and foods that contain it — like a half-rack of ribs at T.G.I. Fridays (2,420 milligrams), or the chicken fajitas at Applebee’s (4,800 milligrams) — would be denoted by a small icon of a saltshaker. 
 
 The measure, which requires approval by the Board of Health, could take effect as soon as December. It is the first foray by Mayor Bill de Blasio into the kind of high-profile public health policies championed by his predecessor, Michael R. Bloomberg.
– Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg first took on Big Salt by setting up the National Salt Reduction Initiative, which encourages restaurants and food manufacturers to voluntarily reduce the sodium found in their fare. Now current Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration is getting into the act: The city's Department of Health is expected to propose today that the City That Never Sleeps takes a step toward becoming the City That Never Shakes by requiring chain restaurants to call out menu items that contain more than the recommended daily limit of sodium, which is currently 2,300mg, or about one teaspoon of salt, the AP reports. Those dishes would be designated by a salt-shaker-style icon on the restaurant's menu, which advocates of the plan say would give consumers the info they need to make more-educated decisions about what to order. Not everyone is thrilled with the idea. The head of the Salt Institute, an industry trade group, tells the AP it's "misguided" and uses "faulty, incorrect government targets" that could actually be harmful. And the president of the New York State Restaurant Association tells the New York Times it would rub salt in the wounds of restaurants that are already heavily regulated. If the proposal goes through, 10% or so of items on menus would get the salt-shaker designation, the paper notes. If the vote to consider the proposal is successful today, a final vote could come in September, with warnings appearing in restaurants by December, the AP reports. Meanwhile, on the Left Coast, San Francisco passed legislation that requires health warnings on ads for sugary beverages, bans such promotions on public property, and prohibits city money from being used to purchase soda, NBC News reports. (The salt controversy continues: Some say too much is harmful, others say too little is.)