Pace Picante Sauce May Have to Come Up With A New Commercial!

Anyone recall the Pace Picante Sauce/Salsa commercials? I don't even know if they are on the air any longer:  

According to the news release from the American Heart Association below, kudos are in order to New York City for making food a little healthier by working with the packaged and restaurant industry to reduce salt amounts! I hope other cities (states!!) will follow their example. There are a fair amount of low sodium products available here where I live, however I know in other parts of the country, the selection is often very limited. I actually have always disliked salt/sodium (well, except when I was about three years old, but that's another story). Below is the news release: 

The National Salt Reduction Initiative

American Heart Association comment:

DALLAS, Jan. 11, 2009 -- The American Heart Association (AHA) applauds the efforts of New York City to work with the packaged and restaurant foods industry to reduce the amount of salt in the food supply. These efforts serve an important role in bringing both the public health community and food industry together to create solutions and help Americans live healthier lives.

The AHA is very concerned with the amount of salt Americans are consuming since sodium can have a detrimental effect on health, including high blood pressure, stroke, heart failure, and kidney disease. Unfortunately, Americans eat about twice the recommended daily amount of sodium.

Only a small fraction of the sodium in our diets is added at the table as salt; almost 80% of it is added to packaged and restaurant foods. As a result, it is extremely difficult for individuals to limit sodium in their diet. The AHA would like to see food manufacturers and restaurants reduce the sodium added to foods by 50% over the next 10 years, for the benefit of public health. By reducing the amount of salt in packaged and restaurant foods, manufacturers could reduce the prevalence of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

The American Heart Association receives funding primarily from individuals, foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are disclosed at www.americanheart.org/corporatefunding.

CONTACT: Darcy Spitz, Sr. Communications Manager, American Heart Association

(212) 878-5940

darcy.spitz@heart.org