New York Salt Initiative Leaves Me Feeling Salty.

New York has always been on the forefront of food laws and change. The McDonalds in NYC were the first to add calories counts on all of their products. Something that left most of us fast food lovers cringing. 


I know it's for the best, and every American should know what they are putting into their bodies. But frankly, I'm not going to McDonalds to count calories, or 'watch what I eat', I'm going there to stuff my face with greasy food and salty french fries. 


Yes, French Fries. And this leads us to Mayor Bloomberg's new initiative, the "National Salt Reduction Initiative". According to sources, New York wants you to reduce your salt intake and has partnered with 16 companies and restaurants who have agreed to reduce salt in their products by 25% over the next 5 years. 

"According to New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Americans get 80 percent of their salt intake from packaged foods and restaurants in the form of preservatives. Adding salt yourself only accounts for about 1 percent of salt consumption. About nine percent comes from sodium that occurs naturally in food. Health organizations recommend about 1500 to 2400 milligrams of salt per day per healthy adult.

Reducing salt intake has been shown to help reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes; city officials say that as many as 23,000 New Yorkers could reduce their risks of dying from those problems.

Officials promise that the reduction will be gradual--and that New Yorkers won’t even notice the difference." 

Some of the restaurants that are part of this initiative and pledged gradual decrease --

• Starbucks
• Heinz
• Au Bon Pain
• Subway
• Boars Head 
• Goya

I'm all for every American's right to eat as much crap as they want. I'm a big fan of junk food and I don't think that there should be restrictions on personal choice. However, I have to agree that decreasing salt in some restaurants and companies is a good idea. 


The initiative is voluntary so needless to say McDonalds and my other favorite food establishments (ahem-chicken joes) won't be taking part. Thank God. But for establishments like Subway and Starbucks, and companies like Goya and Boars Head I think it might not be such a bad gradual change.

Why not? If you start out with less salt, you can always add more. This is why, when the initiative takes a hit, and I'm left with less delicious/salty foods, I'll just bring my own salt everywhere I go and add it to my dish as I wish. Take that Bloomberg, you can't stop my salt intake. 

New Domino's Pizza: Slightly less crappy then before.

After admitting that they have faults and generally shitty pizza, Domino's has revamped their image and released their new pizza recipe. 
The NY Daily News reported that the amount of curious customers led to quarterly profits doubling to $23.6 million. 


I'm almost ashamed to be one of these customers. It's not that I don't want Domino's to do well, it's just that people are trying their pizza based on curious interest alone, not on their need for delicious pizza. 


Maybe I've just been spoiled by New York Pizza and my theory that no New Yorker should ever order pizza from Domino's, ever. We have the best pizza in the entire country, or world, depending on your preference, so why settle for a crappy chain pie like Domino's? 


What I will give them, is that they have changed for the better. While they can't compare with many local pizzeria's, they have significantly improved the quality of taste in their dough, sauce, and cheese. 


Well done I guess Domino's, I didn't know you had it in ya!