Court Rules Against Restaurant Group's Efforts to Derail NYC Sodium Warnings

Statement of CSPI President Michael F. Jacobson

May 26, 2016

Strike two! The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court denied today the National Restaurant Association’s request for a preliminary injunction to stop the New York City Department of Mental Health and Hygiene from enforcing its requirement that chain restaurants warn consumers of high-sodium dishes. Restaurants will have to post on menus a salt shaker icon next to menu items containing 2,300 milligrams or more of sodium—about a teaspoon of salt—and state in a prominent location that that is as much as they should consume in a single day.

Strike one came in February when a state Supreme Court judge ruled against the NRA’s lawsuit against the department’s bold efforts to protect New Yorkers’ health. Excessive consumption of salt, the main source of sodium, can lead to hypertension, increasing the risk of a deadly heart attack or stroke.

The NRA shouldn’t wait for strike three, but should drop its meritless lawsuit and start working with their New York City members to provide their customers with the health information they deserve—and then get to work actually lowering sodium.