Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a very serious yet eminently treatable condition. High blood pressure can be reduced by increasing exercise and improving diet. But if it's not treated, it can cause kidney failure, heart disease and stroke.

41% of all African Americans have hypertension (as opposed to 27% of whites). That means a lot of Philadelphians are at risk for or already have hypertension.

Half of all people with hypertension are salt sensitive which means that the ingestion of sodium can increase bloodpressure rates.

Which takes me to this NY Times article. NY Mayor Bloomberg is looking to get food manufacturers and restaurants to lower the amount of salt contained in their food products by a quarter. Right now this is a policy initiative to encourage voluntary compliance. However, it seems likely that Bloomberg may try to make this law. Much like NYC has already banned trans fats and smoking.

As a pretty major market for all kinds of food distributors, NY could have a big impact on the nation's health if this kind of thing ever became mandatory. If Philadelphia attempted something similar first, the effect would not be quite as large but still sizable.

I am curious what other people think about this kind of lawmaking. It seems similar to the plastic bag banning that Councilman DiCicco has been pushing. On the face of it, this kind of policy making seems good to me. Is there more to the story though?