We seem to have a special connection to salt. This humble seasoning, technically sodium chloride, is ubiquitous in our kitchens. From piping hot French fires to the shaker on our family dining table, salt is everywhere. Not only would the flavor of many foods suffer without it, we would die without the sodium it contains.

But now the warnings to eat less salt are getting louder. In the summer of 2006, the American Medical Association (AMA) pushed the issue of salt onto center stage. The group called for salt to be categorized as a food additive, allowing the Food and Drug Administration more power to limit salt in processed foods.

Salt is not a new health threat. For decades, doctors have been calling for Americans to  cut back their intake. Yet our love of the crystalline substance grows unabated. Indeed, most of us consume twice the recommended daily amount of sodium---2,300 milligrams, or about a teaspoon of salt---and our intake appears to be inching up.

Popular...but healthy?

"Great salt is the building block of great food," said chef Rick Tramonto of Tru restaurant, calling it one of this most  indispensable ingredients. "It brings the flavor to life." Tramonto has his own line of signature sea salts in flavors including black olive, bay leaf, truffle and smoked.

But how salt may be poised to be the next "trans fat". The AMA is calling for the food industry to slash sodium levels in half over the next decade, citing "overwhelming evidence" that excessive sodium intake is tied to hypertension, heat disease and stoke.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, one of the country's most vocal food-watchdog groups, describes salt as the "forgotten killer," Heart disease is America's leading cause of death.

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