Arlene Spark, EdD, RD, FADA, FACN Professor Public Health Nutrition Advisor, and Coordinator of the DPH Concentration in Nutrition CUNY School of Public Health Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center [log in to unmask] ________________________________ From: Katherine Bishop [[log in to unmask]] Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2014 10:58 AM To: NANA Coalition Subject: Sodium report and listserv released today--push out through NANA? Today, CSPI released a new report, “Restaurants Can’t Shake the Salt,” in which we analyzed sodium data from the nation’s 25 leading restaurants using MenuStat.org, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s online nutrient database. Our analysis reviewed menu items in seven MenuStat categories that are leading contributors of salt to the diet: Appetizers & Sides, Burgers, Entrees, Fried Potatoes, Pizza, Sandwiches, and Soup. We found that these restaurants have failed to reduce sodium levels, with an overall average sodium reduction of less than one percent from 2012 to 2014 across the ~3000 menu items analyzed. The report and press release are attached. Click here to read the press release online<http://cspinet.org/new/201412021.html>, and click here to read the report online<http://cspinet.org/images/salt-report-draft.pdf>. We also developed a new fact sheet from CSPI, "International Action on Sodium," that details a variety of voluntary and mandatory sodium reduction initiatives across the globe. By comparison, with the FDA sitting on sodium-reduction targets, our country does not look very good. Click here to read the fact sheet online<http://cspinet.org/images/2014-international-action-sodium-fact-sheet.pdf>. Please help us spread the word using the model tweets below: Top 25 restaurants can't shake the salt habit--no progress on sodium reduction since 2012 http://cspinet.org/new/201412021.html Other nations lead on salt reduction while @US_FDA<https://twitter.com/US_FDA> lags behind http://cspinet.org/new/201412021.html <1% sodium reduction over 3,000 menu items at top 25 restaurants in America. To improve, they need regs from @US_FDA<https://twitter.com/US_FDA> http://cspinet.org/new/201412021.html Sodium reduction would save 100,000 lives a year. Call on @US_FDA<https://twitter.com/US_FDA> leadership to reduce sodium in our food! http://cspinet.org/new/201412021.html Related: Today we are launching a sodium listserv for nutrition and public health advocates to discuss research and national strategies to reduce sodium consumption. CSPI's analogous sugar-sweetened beverage listserv has been highly successful at promoting collaboration and support across the public health community, so we believe that it would be useful to have a similar listserv to discuss sodium-related issues. I hope you will join the sodium listserv. To do so, please email Aviva Musicus at [log in to unmask] to confirm your participation. Please also let us know if you know of other researchers or advocates who would be interested in being a part of the sodium listserv. As with the ssb listserv, we limit participation to people---health officials, researchers, and health advocates---who are supportive of sodium reductions. Aviva Musicus Project Coordinator Health Promotion Policy & Biotechnology Center for Science in the Public Interest<http://cspinet.org/> 1220 L Street NW, Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20005 Direct: 202-777-8307 [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Find Life’s Sweeter<http://www.fewersugarydrinks.org/> on Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/FewerSugaryDrinks> and Twitter<http://twitter.com/#!/LifesSweeter> Join CSPI’s online action network<http://www.cspinet.org/takeaction>