Fair labels, good picks

IN THE interest of improving consumers' ability to make good choices, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has made truthful nutrition labeling on food products a priority. In the interest of reducing one commonly listed nutrient that health experts generally agree Americans consume too much of, the nation's largest food maker has announced a healthy move to reduce salt in its products by 10 percent over the next two years.

Both developments - better compliance by food manufacturers with FDA labeling regulations and the action of Kraft Foods Inc., among others, voluntarily to reduce sodium in hundreds of products - benefit health-conscious consumers. They need nutrition information they can rely on and companies that are responsive to health concerns.

Consuming vast amounts of sodium, much of it in processed foods, contributes to high blood pressure, which can lead to stroke, kidney disease, heart disease, or heart failure. Dietary guidelines usually advise healthy adults to restrict themselves to 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day - about a teaspoon.

The FDA says consumers who are more sensitive to salt, including African-Americans and people with high blood pressure, should limit their daily intake of sodium to 1,500 milligrams.

That's hard to do when a single serving of Kraft's Easy Mac Cup, for example, has 700 milligrams of sodium, about a third of the recommended average daily intake.

Kraft and other food manufacturers have reduced their use of sodium in recent years. Kraft's latest changes go even farther, with targeted reductions and accompanying plans to offer more products with no or reduced levels of sodium.

Reliable information about the nutrient content of food is more important than ever, given the prevalence of obesity and diet-related diseases in the United States. It's good to know that some in the food industry are changing their products in a way that satisfies consumers' intentions to eat healthier.