Judge upholds NYC rule on salt warnings

Karen Freifeld
FEBRUARY 25, 2016
AAP
A New York judge has shot down a challenge by a restaurant trade group and upheld a city rule requiring many chain eateries to post warnings on menu items that are high in sodium.
The rule, believed to be the first of its kind in the United States, mandates restaurants with 15 or more locations nationwide to post a salt shaker encased in a black triangle as a warning symbol next to menu items with more than 2300 milligrams of sodium, the daily limit recommended by many nutritionists.
Dishes that have been flagged include Chipotle’s loaded chicken burrito and Applebee’s grilled shrimp and spinach salad.
“Information is power,” Justice Eileen Rakower of New York state Supreme Court in Manhattan said in a ruling from the bench on Wednesday. Unlike the city’s unsuccessful large-soda ban, she said, the rule did not restrict the use of sodium.
New York City adopted the rule, which took effect in December, to help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
The National Restaurant Association, a restaurant trade group, then sued the city’s Board of Health saying the rule unfairly burdened restaurant owners.
In court on Wednesday, Rakower denied the group’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop enforcement of the rule.
Starting March 1, violators will be punished by $US200 ($A277.09) fines.
In addition to chain restaurants, the rule also applies to concession stands at some movie theatres and sports stadiums.
“This is really good news for the health of New Yorkers,” Dr Mary Travis Bassett, the city’s health commissioner, said outside the courthouse.
A lawyer for the restaurant group, said the association intended to appeal.