A NEW YORK politician wants to mandate the amount of salt restaurants in that city can add to dishes on their menus. The Institute of Medicine calls for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to establish standards for the addition of salt to products sold in grocery stores. Salt, it seems, is the enemy du jour.

Whether too much salt is harmful can be a matter of genetics. Some can use more salt without incurring a lot of negative side effects. Others find their salt consumption raises their blood pressure to dangerous levels and predisposes them to harmful conditions like strokes.

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