“Congress has rightly blocked the introduction of experimental school lunch standards developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that would have radically altered menus in cafeterias. Our nation’s children would have been automatically treated as guinea pigs in a national experiment,” says Orit Sklar, national spokeswoman for the grassroots coalition My Food. My Choice!.

“The thought that government would force children into a diet that has not been proven and could have serious health consequences is unconscionable. Given the plethora of studies and experts refuting and questioning the USDA’s standards, the only choice Congress had was to alter and in the case of sodium, seek further information. The fact that the USDA would continue to push for sodium reduction in light of recent evidence showing salt reduction can actually have negative effects is troubling. Congress is correct in their legislation to require further study on the effects of long-term sodium reduction.”

• Cutting down on salt may not reduce disease, analysis concludes [Washington Post - 11/9/2011]

• It’s Time to End the War on Salt [Scientific American - 7/8/2011]

• Video: Experts call salt reduction plans one big experiment: http://youtu.be/_5whW9B2sxQ

“The Food Police lobby may be loud and obnoxious in their criticism, but they have failed to produce a shred of real evidence to justify enacting such draconian measures on adults, and especially our children. This decision is a momentary victory for food freedom. But, the USDA will continue to hear from Americans concerned about their overreach into our diets. For weeks, My Food. My Choice! has been encouraging Americans to submit an official comment to the Federal Register on sodium reduction. It’s not the government’s job to dictate how our food tastes.”

Comments can be submitted online by going to: http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FSIS-2011-0014-0001. The deadline is November 29, 2011.

My Food. My Choice! is the citizen-led counterweight to local and national government bullies who’ve decided that the path to unlimited power is through our stomachs.

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For media interviews contact Orit Sklar: (404) 931-652 or orit@myfoodmychoice.org