Each time I review a new restaurant for our ongoing Food on the Run or Diet Friendly Dining series, there are always comments wondering why there is so much sodium in restaurant food.

A new Annals of Internal Medicine article looking at information from a cost-effectiveness analysis of sodium reduction strategies suggests that change may be right around the corner.

Although the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends a sodium intake of 2,300 mg or less each day, as many as 75 percent of us consume more. Researchers believe cutting sodium intake could save billions of dollars in health care costs by significantly reducing the numbers of heart attacks and strokes that occur each year. A Stanford University School of Medicine study team along with the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System used computer models to evaluate salt intake reduction models. They reviewed two scenarios to reduce populous salt intake -- one using a voluntary collaboration model and the other which included a national tax on salt.

A government and industry collaboration was projected to reduce American salt intake by 9.5 percent compared to a salt tax that was suspected to only reduce intake by six percent. These model findings supported what has been found effective in Britain through their recent voluntary salt reduction campaign. The campaign in Britain has caused a 20 to 30 percent decrease in salt content of processed foods sold since 2003. Other countries such as Japan, Australia and Canada have launched similar initiatives according to Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

By cutting salt intake by 10 percent, adults between the ages of 40 and 85 could see 513,885 fewer fatal strokes and 480,358 fewer heart attacks over their lifetime. The largest majority of salt intake comes from processed foods and restaurant meals so it would be necessary for the food industry to cooperate if intake reductions were to happen. While health agencies would prefer voluntary cooperation, salt content regulations may be necessary and mandated for compliance with targets. In January, the city of New York began encouraging food makers and restaurants to reduce salt use with a challenge to meet a 25 percent reduction over the next five years.

What do you think will work better – voluntary reductions and collaboration or salt taxes? Why?