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World news: Salt Ban Plans Leave Sour Taste In NY

Proposals to ban the use of salt in New York is leaving a sour taste with chefs and restaurant owners.

The move could see restaurants fined $1,000 for each offence.

But the Big Apple's food industry is mobilising against the bill, introduced in the New York State Assembly by Brooklyn Democrat Felix Ortiz.

Jeff Nathan, executive chef and co-owner of Abigael's restaurant on Broadway, said:

"Just as doctors and the occasional visit to a hospital can't truly control how a person chooses to maintain their health, neither can chefs nor the occasional visit to a restaurant."

Nathan is part of the Facebook group My Food My Choice, a coalition of chefs, restaurant owners and consumers, which has denounced the proposed law as "absurd".

Mr Ortiz has said the salt ban would allow restaurant patrons to decide how salty they want their meals to be.

"In this way, consumers have more control over the amount of sodium they intake, and are given the option to exercise healthier diets and healthier lifestyles," he said.

But chefs and restaurant owners said they are tired of politicians dictating what they can serve and what people can eat.

"Chefs would be handcuffed in their food preparation, and many are already in open rebellion over this legislation," said Orit Sklar, of My Food My Choice.

"Ortiz and fellow anti-salt zealot Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City seek to undermine the food and restaurant business in the entire state."

The American Heart Association wants Americans to reduce their sodium intake and is calling for a 50% reduction in salt used by food manufacturers and restaurants over a 10-year period.