New York City to require salt warnings on restaurant menus

[zenkai]

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/0...?intcmp=hplnws

Salty fare from sandwiches to salads will soon come with a first-of-its-kind warning label at chain restaurants in New York City.

The city's Board of Health voted unanimously Wednesday to require chain eateries to put salt-shaker symbols on menus to denote dishes with more than the recommended daily limit of 2,300 milligrams of sodium. That's about a teaspoon.

City health officials say they're just trying to provide information. Experts say salt is too prevalent in most Americans' diets, raising their risk of high blood pressure and potentially heart attacks and strokes.

Public health advocates applaud the proposal. Salt producers and restaurateurs call it a misguided step toward an onslaught of confusing warnings.

The measure furthers a series of novel nutritional efforts in the nation's biggest city.

I think it's a great idea but I don't think most people will care, the information is usually available if you know where to look

[Independent voter]

I thought science said salt was okay now? Hmmm.

[belfpala]

BIG NEWS!!! COOKS USE SALT!!!

This is fine for places like McD, but for independent restaurants perhaps impossible. My restaurant, for example, almost everything is from scratch, on the fly. The amount of salt is going to vary with the cook.

[Slybak]

This is fine for places like McD, but for independent restaurants perhaps impossible. My restaurant, for example, almost everything is from scratch, on the fly. The amount of salt is going to vary with the cook.

"Do you ever use more than a teaspoon of salt to make one serving of this dish?"

If your cook can't give a yes or no answer to that question, you should probably get a new cook. Because that's pretty basic stuff even for amateurs.

[Kujako]

BIG NEWS!!! COOKS USE SALT!!!

This is fine for places like McD, but for independent restaurants perhaps impossible. My restaurant, for example, almost everything is from scratch, on the fly. The amount of salt is going to vary with the cook.

There is a quantifiable difference between seasoning a dish and having salt as part of the recipe.

[Ragnarocket]

As a lover of salt this pleases me...now I shall know which dishes are the most delicious!

Truthfully though I don't think it's a big deal, they'll probably just place something like a small salt shaker next to items on the menu that have a higher salt content then the average.

[belfpala]

"Do you ever use more than a teaspoon of salt to make one serving of this dish?"

If your cook can't give a yes or no answer to that question, you should probably get a new cook. Because that's pretty basic stuff even for amateurs.

I can accurately measure a teaspoon of salt in my hand. But when you're 30 tickets deep and cooking on the fly, things like salt also start flying.

[Dread Pirate Phayde]

Pretty soon people will need a legend to decipher all the codes being added to menus.

[belfpala]

There is a quantifiable difference between seasoning a dish and having salt as part of the recipe.

That would be part of the recipe. You salt at various stages of cooking. Salt in the pasta water, salt in the sauce, maybe finish with some olive oil and salt. And so on.

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Pretty soon people will need a legend to decipher all the codes being added to menus.

I only use "V" and "G" so far. Vegetarian or Gluten Free. May have to add "D" for Dairy Free, as I've been getting questions about that often.

[Cosmic Janitor]

I only use "V" and "G" so far. Vegetarian or Gluten Free. May have to add "D" for Dairy Free, as I've been getting questions about that often.

If you ever need one for vegan I have a suggestion: ".!.."

[belfpala]

If you ever need one for vegan I have a suggestion: ".!.."

Heh. Thinking, what do I have that's Vegan? oh, right, /yells "Salad station! Make a Vegan special!" There you go, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickled green beans, with onion vinaigrette. $12 please.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Heh. Thinking, what do I have that's Vegan? oh, right, /yells "Salad station! Make a Vegan special!" There you go, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickled green beans, with onion vinaigrette. $12 please.

Aww shite, I actually like salad.

[Dread Pirate Phayde]

I only use "V" and "G" so far. Vegetarian or Gluten Free. May have to add "D" for Dairy Free, as I've been getting questions about that often.

Kudos to you being a restauranteur, I can't imagine the headaches involved with all these Nanny staters, I mean public health advocates pushing for all these "warning" labels. How we ever survived before them is beyond me.

[Blueobelisk]

This will surely affect the choices if the meal I get.

Well maybe if I had high blood pressure it would.

[unfilteredJW]

First thing I was taught in cooking was don't be afraid of salt. That and fat ='s flavor.

The only issue is when you have a chef that smokes and they tend to over salt. Part of the reason I quit smoking.

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That would be part of the recipe. You salt at various stages of cooking. Salt in the pasta water, salt in the sauce, maybe finish with some olive oil and salt. And so on.

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I only use "V" and "G" so far. Vegetarian or Gluten Free. May have to add "D" for Dairy Free, as I've been getting questions about that often.

I swear, the salt in pasta water thing is lost on so many places. I just make my own Italian.

[Ragnarocket]

First thing I was taught in cooking was don't be afraid of salt.

The only issue is when you have a chef that smokes and they tend to over salt. Part of the reason I quit smoking.

Is that really a thing? Does the smoking dull the senses to the taste of salt or something?

[unfilteredJW]

Is that really a thing? Does the smoking dull the senses to the taste of salt or something?

I could totally be wrong in what I was taught, but cigs kill your taste buds, and salt can help you taste stuff.

If this is incorrect I'd love to know. Would not be the first instance of something I took as gospel that was not right.

[Kaleredar]

I can accurately measure a teaspoon of salt in my hand. But when you're 30 tickets deep and cooking on the fly, things like salt also start flying.

I'd assume they'd measure the amount of salt that one cook puts in a dish and then label it like that. They could even average it across several iterations of the same dish, but I doubt restaurants would care that much.

Unless you go completely overboard with the salt, it's unlikely that the differences between making each dish again and again will be pronounced enough to cause any sort of health problem.

[belfpala]

Kudos to you being a restauranteur, I can't imagine the headaches involved with all these Nanny staters, I mean public health advocates pushing for all these "warning" labels. How we ever survived before them is beyond me.

"Yes, I have several kinds of nuts in the kitchen. No, I can't guarantee whether nut dust got on anything. I run a kitchen not a quarantine room."

And so on. I respect allergies, but there's only so far I can go. And I suspect most special requests are based on fad diets.

I swear, the salt in pasta water thing is lost on so many places. I just make my own Italian.

I learned to cook pasta in Italy. So, yeah.

Moving on...

Salt does several things in cooking. First, it denatures proteins. If you give a pork chop or chicken breast a salt rub, or drop it in a brine, it will end up more tender and juicier. That relates to Second, osmosis, salt draws water out of things, which is why it's added early in, for example, sauteing aromatics. And of course, salt makes other things taste more like they're supposed to taste, which is why it's used to finish a dish. Other uses include countering too much sour or sweet.

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I'd assume they'd measure the amount of salt that one cook puts in a dish and then label it like that. They could even average it across several iterations of the same dish, but I doubt restaurants would care that much.

Unless you go completely overboard with the salt, it's unlikely that the differences between making each dish again and again will be pronounced enough to cause any sort of health problem.

I could stick a measuring spoon in the 6 pan of salt, or I can say, "about this much"

[unfilteredJW]

A good way to see this in action is make cheddar mash but don't salt it. Taste it before and after.