More low salt and salt free meals please

“You are the salt of the earth” (Mathew 5:13). This verse compares Christians with salt. We are essential to the earth just as salt is essential to our bodies, and it is not unusual for one to challenge your worth in salt.{{more}}

Salt is a mineral whose chemical name is sodium chloride. It is well known as a preservative and for giving taste and flavour to food. It is required by the body in small amounts to regulate body fluids, nerve and muscular function, among others, but it could be dangerous if taken in excess. Our doctors tell us that consuming too much salt makes us susceptible to hypertension, stroke and heart related diseases, but do we heed the warning?

There is no doubt about the great desire for salty foods in our communities. Children are taught to appreciate it at a very early age, with the many salty snacks that are available to them. Popcorn, potato chip and corn curl snacks are some of the known favorites. Mangoes and golden apple are healthy fruits that are sometimes doused with salt. The amount of salt on snacks is overlooked because these foods are ready made and easier to obtain when compared with home cooked foods. Children become adults and their desire for salty foods continues to dictate their food choices.

Perhaps the restaurant and meal providers in SVG have perceived that salty foods sell so much so that it is very difficult to find salt free or low salt meals on the menu. People flock to fast food and we see the expansion as more franchises come to SVG.

Chicken is our favourite food and the fast food giants are capitalizing on this. They are doing good business based on the number of people who patronize them. They do not see the importance of a salt free meal because it is not on their menu.

I must belabour the point. Too much salt in the diet is bad for us and can lead to such life style diseases as hypertension. It must also be known that this disease is prevalent among black people, as studies have shown. Some people are more susceptible than others because of family history. The disease could also set in because of stress, but then once you have the disease, the salt intake would have to be restricted.

Cooks make mistakes sometimes. Not many are willing to correct their mistakes, and some mistakes cannot be corrected. Many of them forget that the seasoning that is put into the food already has salt with the result that the food becomes a salty mess. I have not heard of anyone returning food because it is too salty. So as usual the consumers absorb the expense.

It is time for us to demand the best. Our food providers should take our health into consideration they must provide food that is salt free or is low in salt. If we insist they would have no choice but to comply. However, you have to first cut that desire for salty food and make your demands felt After all you are paying the bill and should get what you want.

You have the power to control what you eat and you can do so by going back to old-fashioned home cooking.

Ada Johnson is a solicitor and barrister-at-law.
E-mail address is: exploringthelaw@yahoo.com