SCIENTISTS STATEMENT REGARDING DATA ON THE SODIUM-HYPERTENSION RELATIONSHIP AND SODIUM HEALTH CLAIMS ON FOOD LABELING

Nutrition Reviews has had a continuing interest in the scientific basi s of arguments for and against health claims on foods. Such claims wer e first authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1993 u nder the terms of the Nutrition Labelling and Education Act of the U.S . Congress, passed in 1990. Since then there have been petitions that have resulted in a newly authorized claim for oats and other petitions directed toward modification or deletion of the originally approved c laims. The Salt Institute, an industry-supported organization, has act ively participated in the discussions regarding the sodium and hyperte nsion health claim. The scientists signing this statement are familiar with the evolving understanding of the relationship between sodium an d hypertension. The statement reviews more recent studies and critique s the arguments for a sodium health claim. We invite our readers to re spond to the discussion in this controversial area of nutrition scienc e and policy.