Rush has been all over the salt reduction movement like, well, like salt on French fries.  He clearly considers the government request to put less sodium in processed foods to be one of the worst infringements of his personal liberty, like, ever.  Which considering that he's a privileged wealthy white male, may actually be true.

This is yet another case where I wonder if Rush even listens to himself talk.  Does he have the slightest idea what he's saying?  Sometimes I have to wonder.

For example, when I feel obliged to point out that no one is trying to take away anyone's salt shaker.  Salt shakers, despite what Rush says, will continue to be fully available.  Salt will continue to be sold in stores, and plentiful on the tables of restaurants across the land.  What he's saying - "they" are taking away our salt shakers - is literally untrue.

But since when did Rush let something like "untrue" stop him?  Never, that's when.

These measures are not meant to infringe upon your personal salt liberties.  Salt it up, salty-pants!  What it IS meant to do is turn back the dial on the ridiculous sodium loading that is happening - without our consent and without our awareness - in processed foods across the board.

Put simply, "they" are the food production companies, and they are cramming salt down our throats like never before.

The US RDA for sodium is 2,400mg as a maximum.  That's one teaspoon of salt per day.  Is it a hard limit?  No.  It's flexible.  So let's say a teaspoon more or less.  Really if you could get away with less, it'd be great.  Sodium is bad for you.

Now let's look at some real numbers.  At McDonald's, a Quarter Pounder with cheese clocks in at 1,190mg of sodium.  That's about half your allowance for the day.  Medium French fries?  270mg.  Are you shocked that a Quarter Pounder with cheese and a medium fries contains about 3/4ths a teaspoon of salt?  Probably not, because you would expect these things to be salty.  Heck, I would have thought they would have more sodium like that.

But let's browse the rest of the menu.  Small chocolate shake: 190mg.  Packet of Newman's Own Creamy Southwest Dressing: 340mg.  A jug of 1% lowfat unflavored milk: 125mg.  Medium nonfat caramel latte: 180mg.  Apple dippers: 36mg.  

Apple dippers, people!  Even SLICES OF FREAKIN' APPLE have been salted!  In fact, a 4 piece chicken nuggets Happy Meal with Apple Dippers and a 1% jug of milk has 570mg of sodium.  That's a lot of salt for a little kid!

This is the part that Americans object to.  It's not a problem that French fries are salty.  It's that EVERYTHING IS SALTY.  

Across the board, processed foods are crammed with sodium.  They're crammed with corn syrup and the resulting empty calories, too, but at least you expect processed foods to be packed full of calories.  I doubt most people realize how much salt they ingest every time they eat out at a restaurant (Olive Garden's Sicilian Scampi: 1,850mg) or pick up a frozen dinner from the grocery store (Stouffer's Macaroni & Beef: 990mg).

They're cramming sodium into our meals without our consent.  How is that something that Rush Limbaugh would approve of?

Creative Commons-licensed image courtesy of Flickr user Daniel Y. Go