New York to ban "salt" in restaurants?

[StorminNorman]

Chefs Call Proposed New York Salt Ban 'Absurd'

Updated: Wednesday, 10 Mar 2010, 9:47 PM EST
Published : Wednesday, 10 Mar 2010, 7:36 PM EST
By ARUN KRISTIAN DAS / MyFox New York
MYFOXNY.COM - Some New York City chefs and restaurant owners are taking aim at a bill introduced in the New York Legislature that, if passed, would ban the use of salt in restaurant cooking.
"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," the bill, A. 10129 , states in part.
The legislation, which Assemblyman Felix Ortiz , D-Brooklyn, introduced on March 5, would fine restaurants $1,000 for each violation.
"The consumer needs to make their own health choices. Just as doctors and the occasional visit to a hospital can't truly control how a person chooses to maintain their health, neither can chefs nor the occasional visit to a restaurant," said Jeff Nathan, the executive chef and co-owner of Abigael's on Broadway. "Modifying trans fats and sodium intake needs to be home based for optimal health. Regulating restaurants will not solve this health issue."
Nathan is part of the group My Food My Choice , which calls itself a coalition of chefs, restaurant owners, and consumers, called the proposed law "absurd" in a press release issued on its Facebook page.
Ortiz has said the salt ban would allow restaurant patrons to decide how salty they want their meals to be.
"In this way, consumers have more control over the amount of sodium they intake, and are given the option to exercise healthier diets and healthier lifestyles," Ortiz said, according to a Nation's Restaurant News report.
But many chefs and restaurant owners said they are tired of politicians dictating what they can serve and what people can eat. They have opposed the city's anti-sodium and anti-transfat campaigns.
"Chefs would be handcuffed in their food preparation, and many are already in open rebellion over this legislation," said Orit Sklar, of My Food My Choice. "Ortiz and fellow anti-salt zealot Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City seek to undermine the food and restaurant business in the entire state."
The American Heart Association encourages Americans to reduce their sodium intake and has advocated the reduction of sodium used by food manufacturers and restaurants by 50 percent over a 10-year period.

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/loc...roposed-new-york-salt-ban-absurd-20100310-akd

Anyone here want to defend the bill, or can we all agree about it's lunacy?

 

[Manic]

I'm predicting a new crime wave! Speakeasies filled with gourmet food, bootleg seasoned french fries, and crime bosses moving kilos of kosher salt through front businesses.

 

[Majic Walrus]

Isn't eating at a restaurant that uses salt the same as making your own health choices?

 

[Addendum]

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/loc...roposed-new-york-salt-ban-absurd-20100310-akd

Anyone here want to defend the bill, or can we all agree about it's lunacy?

I'm not in New York, so why should I care

 

[The Squirrel]

Isn't eating at a restaurant that uses salt the same as making your own health choices?

Like the government wants you to make your own health choices.

 

[Manic]

Doesn't the government want us to stay fat, unimposing, and content? "Give the ignorant masses their salty foods and reality TV," and all that. These legislators in New York need to read the memo.

 

[SuperFerret]

Seriously, this whole health trend has gone far enough. If you want to do something for your health, then do it yourself, don't force other people to accommodate you, you pompous ass.

 

[StorminNorman]

It's quite clear that whoever suggested this idea has no culinary experience. Salt is as important to the mere concept of food preparation as water and heat.

 

[Marx]

This makes no sense.

 

[Scourge2099]

Glenn Beck brought it up , so I decided it wasn't important.

 

[Ahura Mazda]

This is so idiotic that I am amazed it was even brought as a bill. If it gets passed I would seriously question the intelligence of certain people.

No salt in cooking would take out the flavour of most things not to mention items, such as bread, generally are made using salt.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Mrs. Dash FTW

 

[Crook]

Mrs. Dash FTW

I've used that multiple times when I ran out of salt.

 

[Franklin Richards]

What about cocktails? No salt on my margaritas?


Lame.

 

[Hotwire]

I'm not in New York, so why should I care

Because if it passes, other states may think it's a good idea, too! Then it's only a matter of time before the whole country is eating hospital food.


My thoughts...
When you cook something with salt, in the right amount, you get better flavors. Simply adding salt to a prepared meal, does not accomplish the same result. Besides, restaurant customers who are on restrictive, low sodium diets, are always able to order their food prepared without salt. So what's the problem?

 

[Morg]

I want salt on my fries dammit!! It's one of my guilty pleasures

 

[POWdER-man]

Yeah...wow...this is just nuts. If you have health problems or are conscientious about your health, eating at a restaurant is a personal choice in which you are not forced to do. But in most cases the menu already has health-wise options (at least where I live) and I am pretty sure you can ask that the meal be prepared without adding additional salt content.

I actually have a problem more with people who add salt to their prepared meals, especially when they didn't even try it yet. IMO Salt is meant to add to the flavor not to be used as a condiment, that's why salt is never on my table.

 

[Carcharodon]

I wholly supported the trans-fat ban. This, however, seems excessive.

 

[Addendum]

Because if it passes, other states may think it's a good idea, too! Then it's only a matter of time before the whole country is eating hospital food.

Sorry, I don't fall for the fear of slippery slopes.

 

[Raiden]

Banning salt on the grounds that it will make restaurant foods more healthy is rather absurb. Why not sugar as well, since it can make you fat if consumed in large quantity? I don't care if it's Dems or GOP, this bill makes no sense.

 

[Addendum]

Government has never been about "sense"

 

[StorminNorman]

That's not true.

 

[SuperFerret]

Says the guy with Bill Murray in his avatar.

 

[StorminNorman]