Mayor Kenney signs new bill on sodium menu warning

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed into law on Friday at city hall a new bill that will require all chain restaurants to disclose the amount of sodium in menu items.

By next year at this time warning labels will be required to accompany each menu item containing the daily maximum recommended salt allowance of 2,300-plus milligrams.

“Most of the sodium we eat comes from packaged and restaurant foods, not from the salt shaker at home,” Dr. Thomas A. Farley, Philadelphia’s health commissioner, said in a statement.

High blood pressure a problem for residents

Kenney signed the new sodium menu labels into legislation after taking into account Philly’s high rate of residents who suffer from high blood pressure, according to Philly Voice.

“For far too long, sodium has been an invisible factor for restaurant consumers and that is not something Philadelphia can afford,” Reynolds-Brown said in a statement Friday.

Mayor Kenney backed the new law after Councilwoman Blondell Reynolds-Brown announced the new salt bill back in January of this year after introducing it to legislation.

“For far too long, sodium has been an invisible factor for restaurant consumers and that is not something Philadelphia can afford,” Reynolds-Brown said on Friday after Mayor Kenney signed the bill.

New law to take effect next year

Philadelphia plans to enforce the new sodium menu warning laws by Sept. 14, 2019. Businesses in need of an extension to make the needed changes will be granted a 6-month extension. A warning and fines will be issued thereafter.