In a controversial ruling, New York State Justice Eileen Rakower decided that the salt-shaker icons that are all over New York City chain restaurant's menus are here to stay. The icons were put there to warn customers that a certain dish contains more than 2300 milligrams of salt, which is the amount that a person should consume in a whole day. The National Restaurant Association plans to appeal the ruling, reported NewsMax. The warning had been proposed and enacted by Mayor Bill de Blasio, reported Reuters.
If a restaurant has fifteen or more locations, they are subject to the salt-shaker rule. Considering that one in three New York City deaths have to do with heart disease, the labels are there to help curb the insanely high amount of sodium that New Yorkers consume, reported Bloomberg.
"Some people just love salty foods, and they're going to go ahead and eat those foods regardless of whether they have a salt icon next to them. It's not a ban. It's information. It's a warning," said Rakower, reported Bloomberg.
Preston Ricardo, the president of the National Restaurant Association, says that the ruling is opening the floodgates to the government regulating the lifestyles of the people. The ruling is "way too overbroad and it advises people of things that may not apply to them," said Ricardo, according to Bloomberg.
The salt shaker icon is not enough information and will just confuse customers, he added, according to Reuters.
Thomas Merrill, a lawyer for the city, disagrees with Ricardo. "This tells me that when I go in, if I buy that item, I'm going be getting a whole day's worth of sodium simply by buying that Parmesan sub. This is a warning. It doesn't deal with personal autonomy," said Merrill, according to Bloomberg.
