NY restaurants face total salt ban if politician gets his way

The nannying tendencies of New York's civic leaders have reached a new level with a proposal to fine restaurants that add salt to food.

By Tom Leonard in New York 12 March 2010 • 12:31am

A salt shaker — Felix Ortiz has proposed a bill that would ban the use of salt in New York restaurants Credit: Photo: CORBIS

Bill A10129 would fine restaurateurs $1000 (£600) each time they were caught adding salt to food.

Felix Ortiz, a New York assemblyman who proposed the bill, said it would allow diners to choose whether to do it themselves.

The administration of Michael Bloomberg, New York City's mayor, has already outlawed smoking from many public areas, banned unhealthy trans fats from prepared food and ordered many restaurants to list the calories in each item on the menu. He also favours a new tax on sweet fizzy drinks to help cut obesity.

An estimated 1.5 million New Yorkers suffer from high blood pressure and Mr Bloomberg is keen to encourage people to consume less sodium, which can exacerbate the problem.

However, the mayor has stopped well short of proposing an outright ban on restaurants adding salt, instead campaigning for a voluntary cut of a quarter over five years.

Mr Ortiz claimed that reducing the sodium content of food could cut deaths in the city by as much as 100,000.

My Food My Choice, a coalition of restaurateurs, chefs and consumers, described his proposal as "absurd".